CAFÉ EVANS
by imprisonedONcallisto
Summary: AU. 19 year old Maka Albarn quit her job. Again. Now she's working for Wes Evans at his café. Now she has to deal with obnoxious co-workers, rude customers, and a "Little Demon" who's trying to buy the café! No one said being a waitress was easy. EDITING!
1. Soul Lessons

**June 13, 2010 EDIT: Hello, to all the newcomers to **_**CAFÉ EVANS**_** and hello, to all my old favorite reviews and readers. I really just wanted to go over everything, so don't worry. Nothing has bee significantly altered in any way, shape, or form. All the mistakes (that I have seen) have been corrected. The story is still the same.**

**For those that have put this story or myself on their alert list, I am simply going through all of the chapters and editing everything. As said above, nothing has been significantly altered, only edited for mistakes.**

**To my newcomers, **_**CE**_** was inspired by a little café in a town not too far from where I live. After being there, I was inspired and needed to write.**

**I hope you all enjoy this, now edited, story.**

**With much grace and love, ioc.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Eater or any of the characters. They all belong to Atsushi Okubo, who is signed under Square Enix in Japan and Yen Press in North America. The anime is directed by Takuya Igarashi, and produced by Bones, Aniplex, Dentsu, Media Factory, TV Tokyo... I need to download a life.**

**Claimer: I do own Café Evans and Maggie. They are mine and mine alone! Mwahahahahahahaha-cough-hahaha!**

* * *

**CAFÉ EVANS**

**by infidelityONcrank**

**Chapter 1**

_**Soul Lessons**_

I quit my job. Again.

Don't ask me _why_ I always quit my job, because I don't want to tell you... Okay, maybe I do. You see, I tend to get jobs where the bosses want more services than I am willing to offer. They find university girls attractive, and I am a sophomore in one (DCU, Death City University, to be exact). You get where I'm going with the whole perverted boss thing wanting a nineteen-year old college girl? Good, because I've had five jobs within the past year with bosses who were _all_ alike.

Now, I'm looking for a new job, hopefully not one with a middle-aged man as my boss looking for some easy "booty," as my peers call it. Well, I found _one_ place I'd like to work. It came highly recommended by several of my teachers who had found out about my previous employment issues.

"The manager's a decent fellow. A young man who's practically engaged." they said. "Just ask some of the other students who work there."

It would have been nice to know who the other students were, but I found the teachers were true to their words.

Wes Evans was indeed a decent fellow. He was tall and in his middle-twenties with tame white hair and brilliant red eyes. He wore a white shirt with black dress pants, a simple gray cotton apron was tied loosely around his waist, and a simple black neck tied looped around his neck and was embroidered with the café's logo. He seemed content on knowing that I wanted to work there. And he had many questions. Many questions about my previous employers.

"You said you quit all of your other jobs." he said. "Mind telling me why?"

"I, uh..." I trailed off. "My previous employers wanted something that, well, all girls cherish. I wasn't willing to give in."

"Ah. They tried to force their hand on you and you immediately quit. Smart girl. I think you'll fit right in, Miss. Albarn."

"My teachers told me other students from DCU work here."

"Yes," he said, "some do. Follow me, please."

"Do you mind telling me who my fellow peers are?"

He led to the back of the café to a small, boxed room with a sewing machine, fabric, and stairs that led probably up to an apartment.

"Hm. Oh, no I don't mind. Let's see, you have Black Star-kun, Miss. Tsubaki Nakatsukasa-san, and there's Death the Kid-kun."

I knew all three of them. I shared several classes with the rather obnoxious Black Star. (What kind of name is that anyway? Were his parents on crank or something when they named him? And another thing, was he _dropped_ on his _head_ as an infant?) Tsubaki Nakatsukasa was a kind-hearted girl. (She was the one went to for notes, if I missed a day. Which was a very, very, very rare occasion.) And then Death the Kid. (I still question his sanity, even after attending grade school, middle school, high school, and these two years at DCU with him. Not counting Pre-K and the miscellaneous summer jobs we had together.)

"That's it? There aren't many people working here."

"There's also me and my brother. And my Maggie-chan, whenever she can. Though, she just helps out, I don't pay her. Maybe I should next time... Ah well, I'll think about it later. Anyway, Maggie-chan will take your measurements."

"M-measurements? For what?" _No one _took my measurements. Mainly because I didn't like people comparing my chest measurements to theirs.

"For your uniform. We like all of our employees to wear similar uniforms. We don't like just a nice white top and dress pants. No! All uniforms must match!"

"Wes, what are you going on about?" a voice from the stairs asked.

A small woman walked down. She was followed by a young man who looked very similar to Wes, only more my age.

"Maggie-chan~! Soul! Meet Miss. Maka Albarn. She's the new addition to the Café Evans family. Say 'hi'!" Wes said, introducing me to the two.

"Hello, Miss. Albarn." Maggie said, bowing a little. She was a petite woman in her mid-twenties, probably a year or two older than me, with black hair the fell in waves down her back and intelligent brown eyes. She wore a simple black dress that was loose fitting. Even in the dress she looked well endowed.

"Yo." said the younger version of my employer. His white hair was wild and his red eyes shone deviously under his bangs. A smirk played on his Cheshire lips. His white shirt was not tucked into his black pants, which were held up by a belt with skulls and crossbones on bottle caps. A black tie, much like his brother's, looped around his neck, only it wasn't tied. That bothered me.

"She'll be working here from now on." Wes said, smiling. "Soul go work up front for a while. Maggie-chan, please take Miss. Albarn's measurements. When she's done, Miss. Albarn, just come up to the front. Soul will be your supervisor, so he'll be training to. He'll be rather reluctant at first, but give a few days and he'll warm up to you. Have fun~!"

And, with that, he left me alone with Maggie to be measured.

"I'm glad to see there is another female in the staff. Poor Miss. Nakatsukasa was all alone for two weeks..."

Maggie went on taking about that for a while as she took my measurements. I said something every now and again, but she didn't seem to hear them. Nor did she seem to care that I said anything.

"Your uniform will be done tomorrow!" she declared after ten minutes of measuring various body-lengths.

"Is there anything you need for me to pick up or buy to complete the uniform?" I asked.

"Um... Nothing that I can think of right now. I'll let you know if I think of something. You'd better go up front. Soul's probably bored out of his mind doing nothing."

"Is the café really that inactive?"

"Oh no! Tuesdays are normally just slow days, so there's no pressure of a crowd today. I think that's why Wes wanted to train you today and not start you off tomorrow. Tell me, what's your schedule? For school?"

"Well, I have afternoon classes Monday through Thursday. And Friday I have a night class. Then after the Friday class, I normally do my laundry down at Frankie's Laundromat. It's cheaper and a lot less crowded than DCU's."

"Ookie dookie! I'll let Wes know. Go on, I free you now!"

She shooed me out of the room and I made my way to the front. Soul stood behind the counter, obviously bored out of his mind. He looked up when he heard me stumble over my own two feet.

Yep, I'm a klutz half of the time. The other half, I'm a ninja. Yep, that's right. You heard it from the horse's mouth.

Just joshing.

I'm actually the daughter of one of the best dancers in all of Death City. Shh! It's a citywide secret, don't tell anyone.

"So," he said, "you're the new employee."

Was he that slow or was he trying to be as cool as possible? Because if he was, he totally wasn't. Cool, I mean. He was, in fact, the complete opposite.

I shrugged it off and walked over to his side, a safe distance away of course. He eyed me curiously, the Cheshire smirk never fading away.

"Do you know how to work a blender?" he asked. I frowned.

"That's a silly question to asked." I answered.

"You'd be surprised at the number of people who don't (1). So do you?"

"Yeah."

"How about George Foreman Grill?"

"I use one to make grilled chicken."

"A knife?" he asked, holding up a simple butter knife.

"Only morons can't use one, and only morons cut themselves with one."

"I take it you know from experience."

"My dad isn't the brightest crayon in the crayon box, or so the saying goes."

"Do you know how to use a fridge?"

"I am _not_ my father."

"A juicer?"

"I make my own orange juice every morning."

"Here's a toughie, a cash register?"

"I _did_ work at several convenience stores."

"Congratulations, you are ten steps ahead of most people. I'll give you that. How about a telephone?"

"Okay, now you're making fun of me."

"Can you carry a tray of food?"

"Now that, I have never done." I admitted.

"Good, I have something to teach you." He smiled. _Really_ smiled. I felt my heart flutter.

He grabbed a plastic tray and handed it to me.

"Okay, how do you hold it." he said. I looked at him, confused. "I just want to see if you know how."

"Alright..." I said, trailing off.

I held the tray up with my left hand and used my right to balance it.

"Is your left hand your dominant hand?" he asked, tilting his head to the side.

"No, it just... It's more comfortable this way."

He nodded before filling up a glass of water and placed it on the tray.

"Normally, if it's just one or two glasses, you'd be carrying them with your hands, but I'm just seeing what you know. Now, walk around."

I did. Slowly at first, for my fear of knocking the water over, but then I gained confidence and walked quicker. He added another cup and another and another. It went on until I could carry eight cups of water without fear of them splashing, falling over, or the such (2).

"Good." he said when he was content. "It'll take a while but you'll get used to it. Not many can handle eight cups on the first day."

"I'll take that as a compliment." I said, setting down the tray and drinking water for one of the glasses.

"Hey, that water's for the customers."

"What customers?"

And so, I began working at Café Evans.

* * *

**1. I am amongst the large number of people who do not know how to work a blender.**

**2. Tray carrying information was taken from: http (semicolon slash slash) www (dot) ehow (dot) com (slash) how (underscore) 2054539 (underscore) carry (dash) tray (dot) html. I have never worked in the food business, so I didn't know how to carry a tray of drinks, much less a tray of food.**

* * *

**I know I'm going to get questioned for this: Okay, the story starts out right after Maka's classes end on Tuesday. I was going to have the story take place before her classes but decided it would be best if it started after. It's more convenient on time and whatnot.**

**When Soul was asking Maka all those questions, so he knew what he could train her in, the idea was inspired by **_**A Wrinkle in Time **_**(good book, BAD movie). There's one part when Calvin is over at the Murry household and he's quizzing Meg's intelligence. I got it from that.**

**June 13, 2010 EDIT: I have more chapters coming, it's just that this one was done first and I have a housewarming party to go to, otherwise several more chapters would be edited and posted. **

**XOXO, ioc.**


	2. Tabletop Foxtrot

**Wes is so... like my cousin, it's not even funny. I'm kind of scared of him right now. Same with Maggie (a Mary Sue that created purposefully as one). Maka is pretty OOC, but her thoughts and we, well, never really know her thoughts (which was why I decided to use her as my main character in this fanfic!). Soul is Soul. I like him the way he is. Same with Black Star, Tsubaki, and Kid. Actually, everyone is themselves except for Maka (and maybe Wes).**

**June 14, 2010 EDIT: Wow, I'm back for more editing... This is going to get dull very fast. I love editing, but I don't. I'll probably have to start asking someone I know to go over my things. XD**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Eater or any of the characters. They all belong to Atsushi Okubo, who is signed under Square Enix in Japan and Yen Press in North America. The anime is directed by Takuya Igarashi, and produced by Bones, Aniplex, Dentsu, Media Factory, TV Tokyo.**

**Claimer: I do own Café Evans and Maggie... I also own my friend's eternal soul. You see, I left my seal on his arm and if it didn't wipe off through the day, I'd own his soul forever (or at least until I released him). His girlfriend was kind of mad but I told her I could make him do things for her and she was content.**

* * *

**CAFÉ EVANS**

**by infidelityONcrank**

**Chapter 2**

_**Tabletop Foxtrot**_

The uniform didn't look half bad on me. The shirt was plain white and tight is certain areas, making my fairly flat chest look larger than it actually was. A simple, black neckerchief was held around my neck with a scarf ring with the café's logo embroidered on it. The skirt rose slightly above my knees and was a soft, black material. The white socks clasped my legs and stopped just short of my knees. Black ribbon was woven through the lace at the top of the socks and tied in twin bows. The shoes were black loafers and were quite comfy for everyday use.

I had picked the uniform up yesterday after my Wednesday classes. I officially didn't start until today and that made me as giddy as any kid going to Disneyland for the first time. That's pretty giddy for those of you who have never visited America's number one theme park.

I glanced at the clock and cursed. I had twenty minutes before my shift started.

I gathered my jacket, my purse, and my keys before heading out the door. I quickly scanned my apartment for anything else I needed. Finding nothing, I rushed down into the streets of Death City.

* * *

"Sorry I'm late!" I called to Kid, who was serving a table of giggling high school girls. All of them were fairly pretty and scantily clad. Of course, this flew right over Kid's head. He was more interested in how all of them were the same height.

"It's fine." he said as he directed his attention to the giggly high school students. His charm, cocky smile made them uncomfortable. "Anything else for you lovely ladies?"

Through nervous laughter, he received a 'no.' He nodded and walked away.

"Hi, Albarn." he sighed, wearily. "You know, you're lucky to have the night shift."

"How so?" I asked, clocking in and hanging my stuff up on a hanger in the back room where Maggie stored her working materials for the uniforms.

"You don't have any stalkers, like I do. A few weird folk, yeah, but stalkers? Never. Stalkers only come out in daylight nowadays. You know, 'stalkers' has eight letters, making it perfectly symmetrical..."

I tuned him out. I had gotten good at it over the years. He had the tendency to ramble on and on and on and on about things that no one ever desired to talk about, other than himself of course.

Twenty minutes later, I asked him, stopping him mid-sentence, "Hey, Kid?"

"Yeah?" he answered.

"Who works nights with me?"

"Soul, mostly. Of course, he works whenever he wants to, because he's not paid like the rest of us. He works here, just so he can get someplace to live, eat and sleep. He prefers to work nights, though. Why?"

"I was just wondering is all."

"Oh, okay. Well, goodbye! My shift is over."

"Bye! Good luck on the test!"

He cursed, clocked out and said something about last minute studying. It was so very like him, putting off studying to fix up his home to make it perfectly symmetrical.

"Having fun?" a voice asked, sending chills down my spine. I yelped and jumped away from the person behind me, wielding a dark gray, plastic tray as a shield and sword.

Soul grinned fiendishly at me, his smile was one a shark would have been green with envy of. I swatted playfully at him. Although I had only spent four hours with him two days earlier, I felt as if I'd known him for years. He wad that kind of person.

"So, you're my partner." he said, eyeing me in the uniform. He seemed satisfied. "I guess I could have someone else to work with who's a lot worse."

"Like who?" I asked.

"Like Kid. God, that guy's crazy. I usually wait until he's gone before coming down."

"That's not very—"

"Oi, Lady! Can we get some service over here?" a customer asked.

"You'd better go help him." Soul suggested, opening the register to do something... Hopefully, he was not stealing anything. I had a feeling I would be blamed if he did.

"Yeah, yeah." I walked over to the table and smiled politely. "I'm sorry for making you wait."

"Uh-huh." he puffed. "I'll have a Pepsi with a grilled ham sandwich. And my son'll have a chocolate milk and the mac and cheese. Think you can remember that?"

My smile grew brighter and more painful to my cheek muscles.

"Don't worry, sir. I'll have your order in a jiffy." I said. When I turned back to Soul, I mouthed "asshole" to him.

"That's normal." he whispered to me as I walked past him. Louder he said, "Did you know that a Neanderthal's brain is bigger than yours(1)?"

I blinked as him as I added water to the microwave able macaroni and cheese.

"It's true." he continued, smirking. He started grilling the ham sandwich on the George Foreman Grill. "A Neanderthal's brain is way bigger."

I got what he was trying to do, piss off the rude customer.

"Not smart, Soul." I said through clenched teeth, my back to the father and his son. I spoke as quietly as I could. "That man probably doesn't get to see his kid very often and this is the only place he can go that his ex-wife approves of."

"How can you tell?"

"The guy is balding and a large gut, which means he's had a stressful time and drinks alcohol to try and help himself. He also doesn't have a ring of his finger, yet he has a son. He has a tan line, though, of where one would be. A divorce. The son's probably ten years old and seems kind of down, which is often a sign that he thinks that his parents' divorce was his fault. So thus, this is one of the few places the mother would allow her child to go."

"You like to analyze people, don't you." he said, not questioning my observations. He added the sandwich to a plate as I added the Velveta cheese to the macaroni, which I had heated up for thirty seconds as the noodles cooled to a comfortable temperature.

"It's a hobby."

We quickly added the drinks and I carried the food over.

"Alright, one grilled ham sandwich with a Pepsi." I said, setting the food and drinks down on the table. "And one macaroni and cheese with a chocolate milk. Enjoy!"

I walked back over to Soul, who rolled his eyes.

"You're..." he said, trailing off.

"Lethologica." I said, leaning against the cupboards.

"Huh?"

"Lethologica. It's a state of mind when you can't remember the word you want(2)."

"No, you're strange and you know strange stuff."

I laughed.

"Yep, that's me. Maka the Strange." I beamed.

We traded our weird knowledge back and forth for most of the night. At least, until some classmates of mine came in for a late-night snack. I froze looking at them and they silenced when they saw me.

"Well, hello there, Miss. Albarn." Ox Ford sneered. "I didn't know you worked here."

I clenched my fists. Dear Lord above, have mercy on me. I am about to deliver to you another helpless soul.

"Hello, Mr. Ford." I said, forcing a smile. I held a long-time rivalry with him. The others, Kim Diehl, Kilik Lunge, Harvar D. Éclair, and Jacqueline O. Lantern-Dupré I had no problem with. But Ox, we've be rivals for top of the class since Pre-K. Yeah, we even tried to top each other's finger-painting projects. Kim always won that, actually.

"Woah, Maka, when did you start working here?" Kim asked, blinking her wide green eyes at me.

"Today my official first day, but I was trained on Tuesday after my classes."

"No way, really? That's _so_ cool! I wish I could work here."

"Unfortunately, we're not hiring anyone else for the time being." Soul said, rather annoyed. He started again. "Maka, American car horns beep in the tone of F(3)."

"What...?" Jacqueline questions, wondering at the fact.

I smirked inside.

"Dr. Seuss invented the word 'nerd' in his book _If I Ran the Zoo_(4)." I said, leading the group to a table and handing them menus.

"Random fact challenge." Ox said, explaining to the others as they sat down at a table and flipped through the menu. "You try to see who knows the most random fact."

"Cats can hear ultrasound(5)." Soul said.

"Children grow faster in springtime(6). What'll you guys have?" I asked.

"We'll all take the pie of the month and some milk." Ox said.

"Clans of people who wanted to rid their land of unwanted people burned their houses down. Hence, 'to get fired'(7)." Soul said, cutting up the pie. I filled the glasses.

"All pedestrians crossing highways in Kansas have to wear tail lights at night, according the to law(8)."

"In Chicago, it is against the law to eat in a place that is on fire(9)."

"Gone to Illinois, have we? Okay, try this on for size. It is legal to protest naked in front of city hall as long as you are under seventeen years of age and have legal permit in the Windy City(10)."

We brought the order over to the group, who listened intently to the game.

"Damn, we're not young enough! In Crete, Illinois, cars may not be driven through the town(11)." Soul said.

"In Evanston, Illionis, bowling is forbidden(12)."

"Aw, I like bowling! In Kenilworth, a rooster must step 300 feet from any residence if it wishes to crow(13)."

"Oh, here's one, in Morton Grove, you are not allowed to own a handgun(14)." I said, smiling.

"In Ottowa, Illinois, spitting on the sidewalk is a criminal offence(15)."

"In Kansas, if two trains meet on the same track, neither shall proceed until one has passed(16)."

"We're back in Kansas?" Soul asked. He sighed, rolling his eyes playfully. "In Topeka, no one may sing the alphabet at night(17)."

"Still in Topeka, snowball fights are illegal(18)."

"What? That's a downer. Okay, no one may scream in a haunted house(19)."

"Still in Topeka?"

"Yep."

"Okay. The installation of bathtubs is prohibited(20)." I said. "Move on to California."

"It is a misdemeanor to shoot any kind of game from a vehicle, unless it is a whale(21). Where do they come up with these laws?"

"No idea, but they're funny. In Arcadia, peacocks have the right of way, including in driveways(22)."

"There are wild peacocks in California?"

"Apparently."

"Huh. In Blythe, you aren't allowed to wear cowboy boots unless you own two or more cows(23)."

"In Downey, it is illegal to wash your car in the street(24). Okay, no more laws because it's kind of getting dull."

"Okay, Coco Cola was originally green(25)." Soul said.

"Conception occurs in December more than any other month(26)."

"Golf was once an acronym for Gentlemen Only Ladies Forbidden(27)."

"It's a good thing I don't like golf then, huh? Honey is the only food that doesn't spoil(28)."

"Suicides mostly occur on Mondays. You know, Mondays are very depressing days(29)."

I rolled my eyes and couldn't help but smile. Soul and I spent the rest of my shift repeating random facts we thought were hilarious.

* * *

**1-8. These were random facts taken from http (semicolon slash slash) www (dot) cs (dot) cmu (dot) edu (slash tilde) bingbin (slash)**

**9-24. These are from http (semicolon slash slash) www (dot) dumblaws (dot) com (slash).**

**25-29. These from various sites. I kept seeing them repeated and finally decided to put them up. And Mondays **_**are **_**very depressing. I could see why most people would commit suicide on a Monday.**

* * *

**My cousin inspired the Random Idea Challenge by saying some of the strangest things and printing out a copy.**

**June 14, 2010 EDIT: Not much going on today except editing. I forgot how strange some of those random facts were. Huh, well, expect more chapters to be edited within the day.**

* * *

**Thank you to xShYgIrLx and Kedern for adding this to their story alerts. And .Resort., I too love AU fics. I'm trying to make this one not so cliché (but knowing me, it'll have some moments). A chocolate chocolate chip muffin for all three of you!**


	3. Rainy Day Tapdance

**Sorry that it's been a while. I just couldn't think of anything, so this chapter just sort of... came out. Between the rain that's been coming and going these two weeks, I really haven't had time to think of writing. I was busy watching for tornados. We don't get many around here, but when we do, everyone's outside recording it. Though there was one last summer that **_**almost**_** touched down during a town celebration. My sister was outside (I have no recollection of where I was, home, I think, or out of town) and had to hide in the recreation center nearby. I kind of wished I had been there.**

**I'm kind of depressed. The body of missing two-year old Jada Justice was found. I'm glad that the body was found but I was secretly hoping they'd find her alive. It's sad when something like that happens. I have family in Gary, Indiana and a cousin who's only a few years older than Jada, so I was almost hyperventilating when I heard about the poor little girl. There are sick people out there. All of you should watch your backs.**

**Michael Jackson and Ferrah Fawcett (Jill Munroe from **_**Chalie's Angels**_**) both passed away. I remember listening to the Jackson 5 and watching **_**CA**_** on TV. (sigh) Time goes by too quickly for everyone.**

**I've also been drawn into DragonFable. It's like AdventureQuest, but the prequel. Blame my cousins, if anything. At least they haven't gotten me into WOW yet.**

**What name do you like better?**

**Female  
Viola ("purple")  
Victoria ("victory")  
Eleanor ("sun ray, shinning light")  
Mary ("star of the sea")  
Gwendolyn ("fair bow; blessed ring")  
Cassandra ("unheeded prophetess")  
Rosemary ("dew of the sea")  
Beatrice ("voyager (through life); blessed")**

**Male  
Frederick ("peaceful ruler")  
Charles ("free man")  
Marcus ("dedicated to Mars")  
Edward ("wealthy guard")  
Leighton ("meadow settlement")  
Alistair ("man's defender")  
William ("will helmet, protection")  
Richard ("powerful leader")**

**One vote only per gender, please. It'll really help to vote for the name you like best. It has to do with the future of this story, trust me. Just place your vote in a review or in a PM. Either one will be excepted.**

**June 14, 2010 EDIT: For those looking to vote, the poll has since been closed. But I thank you for being willing to pertain in helping me to write this story.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Eater or any of the characters. They all belong to Atsushi Okubo, who is signed under Square Enix in Japan and Yen Press in North America. The anime is directed by Takuya Igarashi, and produced by Bones, Aniplex, Dentsu, Media Factory, TV Tokyo.**

**Claimer: I do own Café Evans and Maggie.**

* * *

**CAFÉ EVANS**

**by infidelityONcrank**

**Chapter 3**

_**Rainy Day Melody**_

I ducked under people's umbrellas and overhangs from shops as I skirted down the street to the café. My raincoat and broken umbrella didn't offer much protection. It had been threatening to rain all day and the clouds had decided to burst as I left my apartment complex.

"Late!" Soul called to me from behind the counter. He was busy washing and drying dishes, as seeing how the place was bare. "What'd you do, jump in every puddle on your way here?"

"No," I said, taking off my coat. "For your information, my umbrella decided it would commit suicide and flew out my window when the winds picked up. Besides, I was three steps out of the complex when it started to pour."

"...You left your umbrella open, didn't you."

"It was raining yesterday, too! Umbrellas need to dry."

"So _you're_ the reason why we're no supposed to have umbrellas open indoors! It's not bad luck, they just fly out of windows." he snorted.

"No need to be a jerk about it."

It had almost been a week since my interview here. I was quite comfortable and could pick out the regulars from curious folk who wanted to try the food.

"Oh, before I forget," Soul said, washing some glasses, "Tsubaki is covering for my last hour today."

"Why?" I asked, counting the cash in the register, mostly out of habit. ...Twenty-three... twenty-four...

"I, uh, have some errands to run."

"At three in the morning?"

...Twenty-nine... Thirty... Thirty-one...

"...Yeah."

"What are you doing at three in the morning, Soul Evans?" I turned my attention away from the cash.

"Is that really any of your business?"

"Not really, but I want to know!"

"I'm not going to tell you."

"Please!"

"Maka... no!"

"I'll scream." I said seriously. I had lungs and I wasn't afraid to use them. I opened my mouth wide and sucked in air...

He clamped his hand over my mouth.

"Fine." he said. "Don't be such a kid. I go to a jazz club."

I blinked. A jazz club! I've never been to one.

"Why do you go there?" I asked.

"Look, there's this guy there that wants to buy this café."

"Just tell him 'no'."

"We have. One hundred and forty-two times. I understand why he wants it; great location, lots of business... He wants to convert this place into a 'swinging joint,' as he says. This is really all Wes and I have that's our own. It's our only escape from high society."

"High society? Wha...?" More secrets! I thought we were over hiding things from one another.

"Uh, nothing, forget I even said that part!"

"Soul!" I groaned.

"Look, my family isn't all it's cracked up to be. That's all you need to know."

"Alright."

I let it go after that, but I couldn't help but wondering. High society? Was his family rich?

"Maka, stop dwelling on things." he scolded in his usual tone. Soul has this odd way of doing things with this voice that made me giddy and nervous and excited at the same time.

The bell tinkled above the door, calling our attention.

"H-hello." a timid person called.

"Long time, Crona." Soul said, nodding to the figure.

I couldn't quite tell if this person was male or female. Crona was thin, as if half starved, and tall with oddly cut pink hair and tired blue eyes. They wore a long black dress with white cufflinks and plain black flats. I had reason to believe this person was female, but their voice said otherwise(1).

"Here."

Soul handed the strange person a steaming mug of hot chocolate. Nobody I knew could refuse hot chocolate.

"Ragnarok didn't follow me." Crona said to Soul. "I'm just letting you know, in case you see him. I didn't tell him where I was going."

"Don't know why you're still with him." Soul muttered bitterly.

"He... he protects me from the people who want to hurt me."

"Who would want to hurt you?" I asked. Crona looked at me, startled, like a deer caught in headlights.

"Don't worry, Maka doesn't bite... much." Soul said, trying to be soothing.

"I'm Maka Albarn." I said, holding out my hand.

"Cr-Crona. I'm a her-hermaphrodite(2)." the timid person shook my hand.

Well, that answers one question. But it opened up a door to a room with a thousand more questions.

"Most people are afraid of hermaphrodites." Soul said, running a hand through his white hair.

"But the majority people are afraid of persons who look like they're in gangs." I said. I turned to Crona and smiled. "I have a cousin who's a hermaphrodite. The only time Kiyoshi's only scary is if it's before noon."

Crona laughed lightly at that.

"M-most poe-people are afraid o-of me because they think her-hermaphroditism is-is a disease that they can ca-catch."

"It's not like it's a new strain of subtype H1N1." I hummed.

"H1N1, what...?" Soul said, blinking.

"The 'evolved form of the Swine Flu.' Turns out the origins are unknown(3)." Crona said.

"I thought you knew a crap load of random facts." I said, cocking a brow at the white-haired male.

"Eh, some facts are more important than others."

"Worldly issues aren't important?"

"The world knows it, so it's not important."

"You're really a head case, you know that?"

Crona laughed, really laughed. The poor hermaphrodite was rolling on the floor, struggling to breathe, and crying from the pain.

"Y-yo-you t-two are hi-hilar-hilarious." Crona managed to wheeze at us.

The bell above the door rang and in walked at tall, dark, muscle-bound man. A white 'x' crossed his face. A spiked dog collar wrapped around his neck; similar cuffs were around his wrists and his ankles. His hands were gloved and his feet were booted. He was bald but wore a black leather hat. His belt was studded and held up spandex bottoms that only covered what was necessary and deemed decent for society. To me, he looked like something out of a kinky porn movie; he was only missing the whip(4).

"There you are!" the man spoke. His voice was higher than what I had expected. It wasn't the rumble of thunder, it was... annoying, to say the least.

Crona winced and said, "H-hi, Rag-Ragnarok."

"So, you came to see your friends?"

"Ye-yes. I'm so-sorry I didn't t-tell you wh-where I was g-going."

"Huh... Who's the new chick?"

"Maka Albarn." Soul said. "She's annoying."

"She-she's rather ni-nice." Crona said. "Sh-she has a cou-cousin who's a her-hermaphrodite li-like me! Ca-can you believe i-it, Ragnarok?"

"Whatever." the man said, folding his arms as he circled me. Like anybody else would have felt, I was the poor dead animal to some circling, carnivorous vulture.

I felt a light breeze from behind and yelped and grabbed the nearest thing: a phone book. It chopped him on the head. Someone was going to wake up with a headache that no hangover could compare with.

Soul and Crona both looked on open mouthed, gawking.

"What'd you do that for?" Soul shrieked, recovering the fastest.

"He lifted up my skirt!" I shrieked back.

"You didn't have to knock him out with a _phone book_!"

"I don't think a _slap_ from _me_ would have done the job!"

Crona hunched over the body of Ragnarok and poked it with his finger.

"H-hey, Ragnarok? I'm r-ready to g-go. Rag-Ragnarok?" the hermaphrodite called. Crona of ignoring the surrounding world.

The bell chimed it happily and in walked two people. I would have almost thought them siblings but the age difference would put them as father and daughter.

"Sou~l!" sung the little girl. She pranced over the unconscious Ragnarok and was swept into a friendly hug. "I'm hungry, can you make me a cheeseburger?"

"Sure thing. Want fries and a shake with it?" Soul asked setting her down on a stool.

"Yay!"

I looked at her and sighed. An annoying kid at... 9:30 at night. Great, I've only been here for a half hour.

The man that accompanied the girl looked at Ragnarok's body and cocked a brow.

"R-Ragnarok looked u-up Maka's sk-skirt and sh-she hit him on the h-head w-with a ph-phone book." Crona explained. "P-Poor phone bo-book."

"I didn't mean to hit him _that_ hard." I muttered. I looked over at the man. His face was serene but I could tell he was amused.

"Mifune's not a man of many words." Soul said, grilling a burger and quickly frying some fries. "He likes children, which is why he's Angela's bodyguard."

"I'm not a child." I commented.

"Ah, but in his eyes, you are."

I snorted and studied the two.

Angela was a girl about ten or eleven. Her brown hair was chopped into a messy bob that framed an angelic face. He ruby eyes were innocent and were blessed with long lashes. She wore a simple green dress under a simple green raincoat.

Mifune wore a white shirt that was loose and showed off his chest. His blond hair was long and pulled back into a lazy ponytail. His blue eyes were lazy and his lips were thin. He chewed on a reed and watched what was going around him with little interest.

"She's pretty." the girl, Angela, said, swinging her feet back and forth on the stool. "Don't you think, Soul?"

I looked at Soul. His cheeks had a slight pink hue to them.

"She's not ugly." Soul said.

"Pretty Lady, Soul thinks you're _very_ pretty." Angela informed me, giggling.

"I do not!"

"Don't lie to Pretty Lady, Soul. Lying is bad." she scolded.

"I don't think she's pretty!"

* * *

After things winded down, and Soul and I were alone again, I popped the question that had been nagging at my conscious.

"Is your family rich?" I asked.

"Why do you ask that?" he questioned, blinking.

"It's been bugging me since earlier(5)."

"Well..." he said, leaning back on a chair. "You ever heard of the prestigious Evans family?"

"Yeah, they own that big house down on Crossbones Avenue that they visit once every five years. What about them? ...Wait, _you're_ a prestigious Evans? One of _them_? No way. No freaking way!"

"Yeah, well, it's not that great. Mom decided that all of her children would take up instruments. Wes took up the violin, my eldest sister Norma decided that since she hates instruments and she would sing instead, and my youngest sister Esther plays the flute(6)."

"What about you?" I asked after some time.

"What about me?"

"What instrument do you play?"

"Piano." he grumbled.

I blinked. He didn't look like the type of guy to play the piano. Then again, he didn't look like the type of guy to do anything.

"I wish there was a piano here so you could show me."

The bell above the door jingled, signaling that we had a customer.

Soul froze at the sight of the man. I could only stare.

He didn't look human, in fact I don't think he was.. He looked more like a very short demon. His skin was a burning scarlet. His yellow eyes burned wickedly and his teeth glinted with a crooked smile. His ears pointed outwards in deadly points. Twin, pearly white horns jutted out from his forehead. His pinstripe suit was neatly pressed. He looked frightening.

"Well, hello, Soul." the demon said.

"Get behind me." Soul growled to me quietly. I did so. He asked the demon in a quite feral way, "What're you doing here?"

"Why, the meeting, of course. Tell me, who is your lovely friend behind you?"

"Leave her out of this."

"Ah, so _this_ must be Maka Albarn. Miss. Albarn, it is a pleasure to meet you in person. Soul has told me all about you."

"Who...?" I felt myself asked, suddenly terrified that this strange person in front of me knew my name. "Who are you?"

"Why, my dear, just call me, Little Demon."

* * *

**1. Since Crona's gender is unknown, Maka calls it a "they." Proper English, wot, wot!**

**2. Hermaphrodite: A person with both male and female reproductive organs. Derives from Hermaphroditus, the son of Hermes and Aphrodite. Hermaphroditus fused with a nymph, Salmacius, and then had both reproductive organs. I'll be referring to Crona as a male, probably.**

**3. While the 2009 flu pandemic was a classification of the Swine Flu, the exact origins are still unknown. Most people just suppose that it's a new type of Swine Flu, because it 'started on a pig farm in Mexico.' Now it is believed that pigs from Asia carried the strand and a North American transferred it to Mexico. The strand is a mix of Eurasian pigs and North American pigs. Just an update on the worldly pandemic, for y'all. I only know of one school this year that was closed because one kid had the strand. The kid lived, it's the young, the old, and the medically weak that we should worry about.**

**4. Crona was either going to have split personalities (good side: Crona, bad side: Ragnarok) or Crona and Ragnarok be two different people. I liked two different people because... well one of my cousins reminds me of Ragnarok and another reminds me of Crona. It's pretty funny to see the two together... and kind of creepy. The one that's like Ragnarok is kind of... kinky, as the few of us say about him. So, that's the inspiration of that.**

**5. This line honestly bugged me. It's not proper English. At all. But it's how people around here talk, so what else is expected. Heck, I even get caught talking like that. All improper and whatnot. A normal person might say "It was bugging me earlier." But no, here it's "It's been bugging me since earlier." My cousin thinks I'm weird, he just wants to let you know that.**

**6. I noticed that Wes sounds like West and Soul sounds like South. So, I thought what is they had sisters whose names sounded like North and East? Thus, Norma and Esther were born. Norma was rebellious and sings instead of playing the harp or something. Esther I was going to have as a dancer but decided flute for her, just because I felt that Norma being the rebel was enough.**

* * *

**Ooo, cliffhanger. The story starts to pick up. The rest of this conversation, along with the rest of the night will be followed up in the next chapter.**

**Some SoulMaka fluff for y'all. Yeah, I'm a shipper. I ship a lot of things. **

**On my homepage, I have a picture I drew of the uniforms, as well as the café logo. So, check that out when you have the free time. I have several interesting things on there.**

**Review, for the story will come faster to my mind!**

**June 14, 2010 EDIT: For some reason, this chapter took me a while to edit. I think I'll blame it on TinierMe.**

* * *

**Thank you to Demented Fairytale and thedemoninyou for adding this story to your favorites. Thank you to Illuminati-4, Azalee09, OttPop, Midnight Ghost, and thedemoninyou for adding this story to their story alerts. MyLastResort, Sometimes cliche stories are the best, though. I try to keep the chapters simple but complex enough as to where people don't get bored. Illuminati-4, the random fact challenge is fun. Try it with your friend, see who knows more. And Midnight Ghost, yeah! Thank you. **

**Every review counts! Flames are welcome, I like opinionated people (I am one). Feel free to release the flames!**


	4. Dance with the Devil Tonight

**So, I was in D.C. this past weekend, which meant I couldn't really work on anything. I was busy from eight in the morning until one thirty at night, so writing was impossible. But that's what happens. Besides it a freadiculously (Freakishly ridiculous) hot there, I couldn't think.**

**This upcoming weekend I have a family beer bash to attend (me being the designated driver) and next weekend I have my graduation party. Now, I graduated in early June but I've been busy every weekend up until then, so my mom decided it was for the best. I have to print out any replies via email about the party (which is a dull and very boring job).**

**I hope no one got hurt while I was away. It'd make me sad. If it helps (for those of you who were hurt) I got beat pretty bad by a mosh pit. For one group, I could understand but for the others? Yeah, people are just plain idiots.**

**Um, I found out I deleted all previous chapters for this fic (and several others) so... I to keep looking online at what I previously wrote. So, I completely forgot what was written... I need to create a disk or get a flash drive or something.**

**What name do you like better?**

**Female  
Viola: II  
Victoria: I  
Eleanor: -  
Mary: -  
Gwendolyn: -  
Cassandra: -  
Rosemary: -  
Beatrice: -**

**Male  
Frederick: -  
Charles: I  
Marcus: I  
Edward: -  
Leighton: I  
Alistair: -  
William: -  
Richard: -**

**One vote only per gender, please. It'll really help to vote for the name you like best. It has to do with the future of this story, trust me. Just place your vote in a review or in a PM. Either one will be excepted.**

**I should explain why voting for a name matters. I need help choosing Mrs. and Mr. Evans' names. The extras will probably be used for Soul's possible fiancées. It will be open until chapter five or six. I have two polls open on my main website: http (slash slash semicolon) ioc-library (dot) webs (dot) com . Just replace the words in the parentheses with the symbols and take out all of the spaces and it should take you there. You can vote again there for the name you like (because it's anonymous) but only once.**

**Anyway, the title of this chapter was inspired by Breaking Benjamin's "Dance with the Devil." My friend is choreographing a dance for it just for me. Why? I have no idea why. She's just like that.**

**Wow... I had a lot to say this time. If I've forgotten anything, you'll probably find out soon enough.**

**June 14, 2010 EDIT: For those looking to vote, the poll has since been closed. But I thank you for being willing to pertain in helping me to write this story.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Eater or any of the characters. They all belong to Atsushi Okubo, who is signed under Square Enix in Japan and Yen Press in North America. The anime is directed by Takuya Igarashi, and produced by Bones, Aniplex, Dentsu, Media Factory, TV Tokyo.**

**Claimer: I do own Café Evans and Maggie.**

* * *

**CAFÉ EVANS**

**by infidelityONcrank**

**Chapter 4**

_**Dance with the Devil Tonight**_

"Who... who are you?" I asked, my voice barely audible.

"Why, my dear, just call me, Little Demon."

Soul pulled me behind further him, as if he could protect me better. The strange little, red-skinned man grinned maliciously up at me.

My skin crawled. I subconsciously reached for Soul's arm and pulled it close, as if it could protect me from the Little Demon's stare.

"No, Soul," he said, as if reading the white-haired male's mine, "I will not leave. And the police can not force me to leave, despite this being private property. Remember what happened last time? I came in to discuss the plans with you, as it seems Wes doesn't want to talk to me, and to eat. The food is quite good here. I'm positively famished."

"Maka, you can go home now." Soul said through barred teeth.

"I would prefer if she served me. That is the only way I will be satisfied this evening."

The crazy look in his wide eyes and his terrifying grin froze not only my blood but the very marrow in my bones.

"Maka, _go home_." Soul said, breaking the spell. "I can call up Tsubaki and let her know some plans have changed. Just grab your stuff and go. I can handle him."

I did as I was told. I grabbed my stuff and jetted out of there as quickly as I could. I didn't spare a glance back. I knew the Little Demon wasn't finished yet and he wouldn't stop leaving the Evans family alone until something _big_ happened.

I prayed that something wasn't bad(1).

**

* * *

**

I almost threw my brand new cell phone down on the cement of DCU's courtyard. But I thought about it getting scratched up (and probably reported for defiling school property). I didn't need to pay any more fees than was possible right now. Besides, Papa would kill me— or at least kick me in to next week. He could do worse, like make me hang out with him for a whole evening.

I hadn't been able to sleep well last night because I felt bad about leaving Soul alone to deal with that freak of nature Little Demon. His name suited him quite well. I'd have to think of a nickname for him. Hm... Oni-chan? I'll put that in the maybe pile.

"Rough night?"

I turned and saw Tsubaki standing there, looking as sweet and kind as ever. Her long dark hair was tied up in a high pony tail. What strands didn't reach the elastic hung down her pale cheeks, framing her cherubic, dimpled face. Her bright, dark violet eyes twinkled in the way only some people's did. Her loose and very modest yellow peasant dress was the trendy boho style that everyone seemed liked. The leather belt that was tied at her natural waist and moccasins added to her boho-ness(2).

"Yeah." I sighed, twirling my dull, blonde hair around my finger. Maybe I could dye my hair an interesting color. Hm...

"What do you think of him?" she asked, sliding down to sit down on the water fountain's edge next to me.

"Who?"

"Little Demon."

"Oh. He scares me."

"You sound kind of disappointed. Did you want to talk about another 'him'?"

"No, I'm good." I bolted up and started to walk away. She pulled me back.

"That's what all crushing girls say. Well, at least according to _Cosmopolitan_. Come on, Maka, girl talk. Who are you crushing on?"

"No one, honest to god."

"Maka...!"

"Fine." I mumbled my crush's name incoherently. Who would want to know why I was crushing on Soul in the first place?

"I didn't hear you, Maka. Stop being such a tiny fresh(3)."

"Soul." I said, half groaning, half whining. I looked at her through my lashes. "Don't you dare say anything."

That threat was empty. She knew it, I knew, everyone knew it. I could never hurt Tsubaki, no matter how mad she made me.

"Why would I say anything? Soul's a nice guy with a little bit of an attitude. But you could do worse." she said sincerely.

"Yeah, I could. Take Black Star... Oops."

"It's alright, I know how you two feel about each other. You and Black Star are worse than Romulus and Remus(4)."

I smiled slightly. The only Tsubaki loved more than Quantum Physics was Roman Mythology.

"I still feel bad." I said.

"It's okay, we've only been dating for, like, three years, now."

"Tsukabi..."

"Well, I got to go before I'm late for class. Oh, is it another lecture today?"

"Yeah, unfortunately. Do you want to borrow my notes?"

"No, I'll be good."

"You sure? I do know how to take good no~otes." I said, ending in a sing-song voice. I held the notebook out to her.

Tsubaki smiled, knowing the temptation.

"Positive." she said, waving and walking into the wood and stone building.

I waved back, though I don't think she saw me, and started to head to my apartment to get ready for work. It was a nice day out, so I felt no need to rush.

"Ah, Miss. Albarn."

I looked up, startled half to death. It was the Little Demon. Unfortunately for me, his goons were with them and all of them were three times my size.

"You have kept us waiting." Little Demon said, chuckling to himself. "Come, we shall discuss things over tea."

I backed away, only to bump into one of the large goons.

This day was just one of those day I knew would be bad the second I rolled out of bed.

Why hadn't I listened to my intuition?

* * *

"_**I believe in you,  
I can show you that  
I can see right through  
All your empty lies,  
I won't stay long  
In this world so wrong.**_

"_**Say goodbye,  
As we dance with the devil  
Don't you dare look at him in the eye,  
As we dance with the devil tonight..."**_

"**Dance with the Devil" by Breaking Benjamin**

* * *

**1. Originally I was going to have Maka stay, but I just couldn't write it. It didn't work in the plot line that I had planned (or what little I knew of it up until this chapter).**

**2. I like the boho (bohemian) style. It's comfy, it's trendy, and it's very Tsubaki. I don't know why, but I saw her in this yellow peasant dress that some girl was wearing while I was in D.C. She wore the belt and the moccasins, but she also had a hat on that I didn't like very much. It completely went against all boho rules.**

**3. Tiny fresh: A high school freshman. There are very few around here who are mature. They all act like fifth graders. Luckily, they get better the end of their sophomore year. We decided on 'tiny' because, the boys have tiny... ahem... Yeah. My friends and I are total perverts.**

**4. Romulus and Remus were the children of the Vestal Virgin Rhea Silvia and Mars, god of war. Romulus killed Remus after a dispute between the twins. It was either them (to describe Maka and Black Star's relationship), Cain and Abel, or the Lion and the Unicorn.**

* * *

**I couldn't really think of anything, so this is a relatively short chapter. I apologize for that. I'm mentally constipated right now.**

**It's hard to write a serious fic when you have a bunch of techno and dance songs stuck in your head. It also doesn't help that me sister's playing Family Force Five.**

**June 14, 2010 EDIT: I fixed the "Miss Evans" thing that several people pointed out in the past. This was such a short and awkward chapter for me. **

* * *

**Thank you to Raptor Ookami, LittleMissReaper112, and Mysticchowz for adding this to their Story Alerts. **

**LittleMissReaper112, YingYang890, and aoitsukineko for adding this to their favorites. **

**Midnight Ghost, yeah, the "Pretty Lady" thing was good, wasn't it? **

**Black-Blood-Demon, I got it up. What do you think? **

**urnaywey, the Little Demon will most assuredly bring changes to their lives. As to what they are... I just found out this chapter (while writing it). **

**LittleMissReaper112, Black Star is included in that category. Me and Black Star sat there (quite ashamed of ourselves) at that part. **

**MyLastResort, was this a little cliché? I have a feeling it was but then a feeling it wasn't. Little Demon is my favorite villain (then, if you look at my favorite Disney villain— Maleficent— I think you'll see why). **

**Ryo Hoshi, I'm glad to see I didn't frighten you away yet, just let me know if I do (I like to hear feeback on what can be improved). Yeah, I had a feeling it was proper grammar, I just wasn't comfortable with it. **

**YingYang890, I added a small scene at Maka's school for you (though you probably want more). I was planning on adding some teachers, friends, enemies, and a scene or five at the school. Originally, thi fic was only going to be just at the café, but I needed a bit more variety of places for Maka to interact in and different people for her to interact with. **

**Azalee09, thank you, I like my writing style, too.**

**And thank you to the three folks who voted. You three get muffin baskets! Everyone else can still vote (through PM, review, or on my main website).**

**I made my life complicated by posting several things. I got a lot of emails that I had to look over to see which fic they were for. I have a feeling things are only going to get more hectic for me. I have a small fic I want to do for Transformers/Beast Wars already in the making and then I have some one-shots on the way, along with some other fics. Oh, sweet rapture, take me now!**


	5. The Fist and Foot Tango

**This chapter I had to think about, that's what was taking so long. I couldn't get the conversation right, so I kept redoing it. This is what eventually came out.**

**My cousin (the one who I go to the nifty café with) got me into Eurodance. I like as much I as I like alternative (which is saying a lot).**

**I also realize why I love _Spirited Away_, _Princess Mononoke_, _Kiki's Delivery Service_, and other films by Hayao Miyazaki: Amazing stories full of magic ad such detail within the animation. My sister (who is the complete opposite of me) loves them as much I as do. This, of course, leaves my parents amazed that we share anything in common. Poor mom, poor dad.**

**What name do you like better?**

**Female  
Viola: II  
Victoria: III  
Eleanor: -  
Mary: -  
Gwendolyn: -  
Cassandra: -  
Rosemary: II  
Beatrice: I**

**Male  
Frederick: -  
Charles: III  
Marcus: II  
Edward: -  
Leighton: II  
Alistair: -  
William: -  
Richard: I**

**One vote only per gender, please. It'll really help to vote for the name you like best. It has to do with the future of this story, trust me. Just place your vote in a review or in a PM. Either one will be excepted.**

**I should explain why voting for a name matters. I need help choosing Mrs. and Mr. Evans' names. The extras will probably be used for Soul's possible fiancées. It will be open until chapter seven (I extended it). I have two polls open on my main website: http (slash slash semicolon) ioc-library (dot) webs (dot) com . Just replace the words in the parentheses with the symbols and take out all of the spaces and it should take you there. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Eater or any of the characters. They all belong to Atsushi Okubo, who is signed under Square Enix in Japan and Yen Press in North America. The anime is directed by Takuya Igarashi, and produced by Bones, Aniplex, Dentsu, Media Factory, TV Tokyo.**

**Claimer: I do own Café Evans and Maggie (who's with Wes right now. Doing what... well all of us could probably guess something perverted, but they're really knitting).**

* * *

**CAFÉ EVANS**

**by infidelityONcrank**

**Chapter 5**

_**The Fist and Foot Tango**_

The Rolls Royce was a comfortable vehicle, I had to admit. But I wasn't really enjoying it. I felt claustrophobic between two muscle bound men on the bench seat. I mean, who would enjoy being kidnapped? Just a few freaks... I could probably list the few off the top of my head.

"I'm quite sorry to take you like this, Miss. Albarn." the Little Demon said, looking at me. "We didn't really get to talk last night, what with Soul quite rudely kicking you out during your shift. I need to sort things out between us. I'm afraid the only way I could smooth things over, was to take you back to my club and talk. I apologize. Ah, look, we're here."

It was a quick ride.

On the outside, the building was black and the windows reflected the street outside. The sign above the door red 'HELL FIRE' in big, bold, fiery letters.

I was pushed out of the Rolls Royce and lead into the building by two of the men.

The jazz club was a spiffy— that's right, I used spiffy— place. The tiles were a checkerboard red and black. The table tops, bar counter, and curtains matched. The walls were pure black painted cement bricks. There was a decent sized stage in the back. Red funiture placed stratigicly in the corners were shrouded by marble stone barriers and plants. It was a well thought out layout.

"Do you like what you see?" the Little Demon asked sitting down at one of the tables with a crystal glass that had amber liquid in it.

"It's..." I hesitated to answer him. I didn't want to say it was nice, but I didn't want to appear rude either. Finally, I said, "It's different."

"Sit, you'll feel much more comfortable." He waved his hand to a chair opposite the table from him. "Do you want anything to drink?"

"No, thank you."

"Now, you're probably wondering why I asked you to come here. As you know, I'm trying to take the café from the Evans boys. They're spoiled brats, always have been. I've seen them grow up you know from spoiled little tykes to spoiled adults. And not just Wes and Soul, but their sisters Norma and Esther. Their parents are good friends of mine. So, you know, I know many things about all four of the Evans children. But there's one thing I don't know. Do you know what it is, Miss. Albarn?"

I clenched my fists under the table. I knew they would be sore when I unclenched them and they were probably white right now. Not only as I frightened of him, but he was demanding. I didn't like demanding people. Which makes sense Fate would place me as a waitress.

"No." I managed to answer through tight lips. I didn't really believe him.

He studied me, seeing if I really knew. I didn't know, and that was the truth.

"What I want to know is why Soul Eater Evans would take interest in you, Maka Albarn."

Just then, the door slammed open, causing both the Little Demon and myself to jump. Soul stood in the doorway, looking none too happy.

"I thought I told you to leave her alone." he growled, his white hair falling into his face. His red eyes glared viciously through the colorless strands.

Several muscle bound men rushed at him. Soul easily dodged them, being small and lithe as he was. His fists collided with guts, chins, eyes, and much more private parts as he defended himself. His legs did the same. It was glorious and something out of those romance novels I used to read in high school.

"Come along, Miss. Albarn." the Little Demon said, grabbing my wrist. He was stronger than he looked. His long finger nails pinched my skin as he pulled me along. "We need to finish our conversation elsewhere."

He tugged me into a back room and locked the door.

I struggled to release his grasp, grunting and stumbling. I wasn't the damsel in distress type, I could fend off others.

I looked around the room frantically. I spotted a back door, a desk with books, and a bookshelf. I smirked to myself.

Grunting, I pulled him toward the desk. I grabbed a decent sized book that was within my grasp and cracked him on the head with it. He slumped down.

I dashed to the back door and fumbled with the lock. I could now understand how those girls in horror films felt. I finally got the door unlocked and I opened it. In time, too; he'd just woken up.

"Stop!" he called groggily.

Four hands pulled me out of the building and dragged me through the alley.

"Hi, sorry for just grabbing you," said the smaller of the two, "but Liz and I were trying to brake open that door for the past five minutes to go in and get you. Oh, I'm Patti by the way and this is my big sister Liz. We're friends of Kid and Soul and Black Star and Tsubaki and Wes and Maggie. Tsubaki texted us that she had seen you taken by that freak and then we told Kid and then he told Soul and then Soul asked us to help him save you. Normally we don't do heroics but Soul made you seem so nice, so we had to help."

As she babbled, we had left the alley and were running down the street to the café.

"Ignore Patti," Liz said. "She just likes to hear the sound of her own voice."

"I do not!" Patti said loudly.

Kid opened the doors for us and we dashed in. He closed it the second I was in. We stood there for several minutes, catching our breath.

Someone held out a glass of water to me. I took it willingly and chugged it down, loving to cool wetness of the water and it trickled down my throat.

I smiled at the person who handed me the water.

"Thank you, Maggie." I said, suddenly feeling very worn out.

"Are you alright?" Maggie asked. "Did anything happen to you? What did that demon want?"

"I'm fine, just a few bruises on the wrists. He only wanted to ask a few questions, at least, that's what I _think_ he wanted." I turned to Liz and Patti and bowed. "Thank you."

"No prob." Liz said, flipping her long, blonde hair back. She wore blue jeans that were neatly tucked into a brown pair of cowboy boots. A red t-shirt hugged her torso, showing off her body.

"You're welcome!" Patti said. Her blonde hair was cut just below her chin and flipped outwards. She wore a similar red shirt to her sister's, only it seemed tighter on her. She wore the same brown cowboy boots. The only real difference between them was that Patti wore blue jean shorts.

"I hate the fact you two aren't symmetrical." Kid whined.

"Oh, not this again." Liz mumbled ad Patti burst into a fit of laughter, which was rather loud and very annoying.

"Glad to see you're alright." Maggie said, patting me on top of my head.

"Maka, why don't you take the day off." Wes said.

"No, it's fine!" I said. "I can still work, really. I'd probably be safer here than at my home, anyway."

"Good point..."

"Maka, follow me." Maggie said.

I followed her upstairs to a neat apartment. Despite the wealth of the Evans family, Wes, Maggie, and Soul lived in an apartment with used furniture. Nothing exactly matched. The lamp and the couch clashed with each other and the rug spread out on the hardwood floor. All of the little tables were various colors. One of the couches mismatched cushions had duct tape on a corner in order to hold it together.

It made me feel at home.

"You can stay up here until it's time for your shift." Maggie said. "You use this remote to turn on the television and to turn up the volume, and you use this remote to turn on the TiVo and to change the channels."

She gave me to two remotes and left me to myself.

"I have some cleaning to do." she said.

I turned on the TV and TiVo, and flipped precariously through the channels until I found something that looked interesting. My mind wasn't really on the screen, it was thinking about Soul.

**

* * *

**

I woke up in a dark room and found I was wrapped in something warm. I was in someone's bedroom. A quick look at the walls and various posters told me it was Soul's. Blushing, I shot out from under the cover and was immediately met with the cold air.

I looked around, rubbing my arms for warmth. Soul kept his room clean. There was his bed in one corner (the only thing that was messy), a computer and a desk with neat stacks of CDs, and a closet in another corner. Next to his bed was a bookshelf. There were several manga series and issues to the _Rolling Stone_, _Spin_, andgaming magazines. The clock on the bookshelf read 12:32.

My shift had already started.

I quickly made the bed.

I opened the door and found the family room was dark. I felt my way through the shadows to the stairs and climbed down them carefully. I saw the lights from the café from under the door. I bumped into several things as I made my way to the only non-livable part of the building.

I winced at the lights and almost regretted waking up.

"Hey." Soul said, blocking the light. He must have heard me stumbling around.

"Hey." I said back.

"Can we talk?"

"Yeah, but... can I fix my appearance first? I don't want to offend any customers."

I walked to the public bathroom the café had. It was a simple toilet, sink, and paper towel dispenser combination.

I sighed and leaned on the sink, looking into the mirror. My hair was a mess, there were circles under my eyes, my clothes were wrinkled. I needed a shower.

I pulled my hair out of the twin pigtails and combed the strands with my fingers, getting most of the knots out. I tugged at my clothes and fixed them as best as I could. I turned on the water and splashed it on my face. I wiped off the water and looked at myself in the mirror.

I looked better.

I smiled.

Even better.

I walked out of the bathroom and sat in front of Soul at a table. We sat silently for several minutes before either of us spoke.

"You should quit." Soul said.

"What?" I gasped.

"This place... Maka, you should quit."

"Why? I _like_ working here. I'm not going to quit. And even if I did quit that... that _freak_ is going to come after me."

"...What did he want to know?"

"He..." I hesitated in telling him. I bit my lip and looked down at my shaking hands in my lap.

"Maka, tell me." he pleaded. I looked into his eyes and felt bound to tell him what he wanted to know. "What did he want?"

"He wanted to know why you are interested in me."

"...Did you tell him?"

"Soul, why _are_ you interested in me?"

He looked at the floor. After a moment, he answered, "I can't say... not yet, at least. And he already knows, he was just trying to see if _you_ knew. I plan to keep it that way, too. So long as you don't know, you're safe."

"He'll still come after me, even after I quit, Soul."

"Maka, this whole thing goes deeper than just this café."

"It has to do with your family, doesn't it? He told me he knows your whole family. That's true, right? Soul, please tell me."

"Yeah, it does have to do with my family. But I can't tell you right now. Some other time, I will, I promise."

"...Okay."

We sat in silence again.

"Hey, Maka...?"

"Yeah?"

"Never mind, I'll ask you tomorrow." he said, turning away and heading to service a customer.

* * *

**So, I had no idea this whole thing had to do with Soul's family... until I typed it out. It's amazing how much this story writes itself. I know where the next few chapters are going but after that... I'll just have to figure it out.**

**My sister called me sadistic. My response: "You know what 'sadistic' means?" Boy, was she peeved. She said I was sadistic because I like leaving my readers with cliffhangers. In all honesty, I don't torture you guys with cliffhangers on purpose, the story does it. As said above: this story writes itself. There'll be more cliffhangers to come because that's the way this story is.**

**Thank yous to Waffo Eater, aivlis999, silvermonkeyhunter, Ao Kudo, Lexi-Rwan, Novalia1001, IchigoOtaku01, KazeKitty, SoulXMaka1, Tilvan The Storyweaver, Kuro Hyuuga, Capeircon, and NightmarishlyAesthetic for adding this story to their favorites.**

**Thank yous to My-name-is-foxglove, shatteredtomorrow, IchigoOtaku01, Pajamaly, Loonalily, and Capeircorn for adding this story to their story alerts.**

**MidnightGhost, Aah~.  
Nobody, Breaking Benjamin is one of my favorite bands. They influenced most of the story, to say the least.  
My-name-is-foxglove, I'm adding a fiancée to simply add rivalry. Don't worry, nothing else, just rivalry.  
IchigoOtaku01, lol and thank you, I like being original with my story ideas.  
OshiMoon (a.k.a. Sweet!, a.k.a. LOL, a.k.a. Yay!, a.k.a. ...), I read **_**Hooked**_** when it first came out. I forgot what it's all about. Looks like I'm going to have to reread it! As for the **_**Emily the Strange**_** book... I'll have to check it out. Glad to see you laughed that hard. Last time I did that I seriously laughed myself off my chair! I think I still have the bruise from it. Sorry about making the Maka/Soul/Crona conversation confusing. I'll have to edit that at a later date. I hope this chapter makes up for last time. Did I seriously make that mistake? I don't think I did it on purpose. I'm firing my editor! ...Oh wait, I'm my editor. Hee hee.  
Loonalily, I was going to add Liz and Patti either this chapter or the next. Because of you :D I added them this chapter.  
Capeircorn, I had Soul save her! I tried to do a fluffy moment, but... yeah.  
NightmarishlyAesthic, being original is what I strive for. The characters do grow on you, don't they?**

**I was going through my inbox and was like, "People love me! They really love me!" Until I got to the end, then I was like "Too much love (twitch twitch)..." A lot of people faved, alerted and reviewed this time. And I love all of you who did! Apple strudels for all!**

**My goal for this chapter is ten reviews.**


	6. Announcement!

**Hey, guys. Sorry that I haven't written in a while. It's mainly because of school. This was my first semester at college, so I needed to keep my grades up. I only had three classes this semester and this spring, I'll have four. Which, for many, may not seem like much, but believe me when I say that sitting in the same classroom for three hours does get quite dull.**

**I am working on the next chapter, but I'm not sure when it'll be up. Next month at the earliest. But I'm making no promises.**

**I would like to thank those who have waited so patiently and, again, apologize. You guys are amazing for being so tolerant.**

**Please do be patient and please do continue reading and reviewing. It means a lot to me.**

**Sincerely,  
infidelityONcrank**


	7. Cuddle Fuddle

**Yay! New chapter! Everybody can go, "FINALLY! Gosh, Sarah, it took you forever and a day." So, sue me, sue what can ya do me? I love you! ...Okay for those of us laughing at the Guys and Dolls reference, this chapter was kind of difficult to write mainly because I was listening to songs from Wicked the Musical. Mostly the "she's dead!" part and the "Have another drink, my dark eyed beauty" part. I don't know why, but those two parts keeping coming at me.**

**Anyway, so guess what I had to do? Recount all of the votes for the names. That was a fun twenty minutes. Anyway, this time it's better because I used a chart. Now I know how many votes were made via review and how many were made via polls. :D**

**So, I'm fine, now that I have good medication to help me and a wonderful support group. My hair is redder than before (freshly dyed for a photo shoot).**

**In funnier news, my friends now call me Blair. For some odd reason I remind them of Blair. I'm still trying to figure out why. If you can think of anything, just say something. I think it's because my friends read Blair's personality thing on the Soul Eater wikia and were like, "OMG! It's Sarah!" But I don't know. I don't speak nerd, I speak geek... Maybe it's because I had odd cravings for milk. Oh, well.**

**Slot is a good nu metal Russian band. Some people may like them. I'm not saying everyone will, because it's not everybody's cup of tea. Any who, their song "Dead Stars" is mentioned in this chapter. I have the song up on my homepage, underneath the polls.**

**Also, the title of this chapter, "Cuddle Fuddle," is a song by Passion Pit. Their song "Sleepyhead" is used for the new phone, Palm Pixi. I like both songs, so... yeah. Anyway, "Cuddle Fuddle" kind of has to do with the chapter (it's not just the Rapunzel thing, either).**

**What name do you like better?**

**Female  
Viola: IIII  
Victoria: III  
Eleanor: I  
Mary: -  
Gwendolyn: -  
Cassandra: I  
Rosemary: II  
Beatrice: I**

**Male  
Frederick: I  
Charles: III  
Marcus: II  
Edward: -  
Leighton: II  
Alistair: I  
William: -  
Richard: II**

**One vote only per gender, please. It'll really help to vote for the name you like best. It has to do with the future of this story, trust me. Just place your vote in a review or in a PM. Either one will be excepted.**

**I should explain why voting for a name matters. I need help choosing Mrs. and Mr. Evans' names. The extras will probably be used for Soul's possible fiancées. It will be open until chapter seven. I have two polls open on my main website: http (slash slash semicolon) ioc-library (dot) webs (dot) com . Just replace the words in the parentheses with the symbols and take out all of the spaces and it should take you there. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Eater or any of the characters. They all belong to Atsushi Okubo, who is signed under Square Enix in Japan and Yen Press in North America. The anime is directed by Takuya Igarashi, and produced by Bones, Aniplex, Dentsu, Media Factory, TV Tokyo.**

**Claimer: I do own Café Evans and Maggie.**

* * *

**CAFÉ EVANS**

**by infidelityONcrank**

**Chapter 6**

_**Cuddle Fuddle**_

I never really listened to Slot before I met Tsubaki(1). She, being quiet, had a lot of unknown things about her, including her infatuation with Russian rock music. She had found out about Slot through t.A.T.u., a duo who everyone thinks are lesbian but aren't. Now, I don't understand the Russian language to save my life, so she often had to tell me what the songs were about.

Anyway, I was listening to a song by Slot, "Dead Stars." It was kind of a depressing song, to say the least. I was with Tsubaki at her apartment. Both of us had the day off and we were just relaxing.

Everything about her room was pastels. Thinking back to when I asked her to be my roommate at the beginning of the year, I knew I would have regretted it. Pastel colors and I didn't get along very well.

Tsubaki was singing along with it. In English, of course. She somehow knew how to translate Russian to English.

"Stop, before it's too late.I've already fallen down after you,There where your dead stars shine,

Blinding the sun..."

I zoned out, thinking of a few nights ago when Soul told me I should quit. There was something going on that was much bigger than I knew.

"Hey, Tsubaki?" I said, interrupting her singing.

"Yeah?" she answered.

"I know that the Oni-chan hates the Evans children and wants the café for it's convenient location, but what other motive does he have?"

"Maka-chan...(2)"

I sat up from my spot of the floor. She hadn't called me 'Maka-chan' in a long time. When we first met when we were little, she used always call me that until I told her to just call me 'Maka' because that was my name, not 'Maka-chan.' I was little and I didn't understand Japanese honorifics.

She met my eyes.

"Maka-chan, it's not my place to tell you. Soul-kun or Wes-kun—"

"Tsubaki, please!"

"I'm sorry, Maka-chan. I just... I can't!" she cried, standing up.

I sighed and gathered my things. Fun time was over.

"Wh-where are you going?"

"I need to get ready for work. I only have an hour before I need to go in." I walked to the front door and opened it. I paused long enough to say, "Bye, Tsubaki."

I closed the door and walked up the stairs to my apartment, glad that we lived in the same building for once. I dug out my keys from my jeans pocket and unlocked my door. I flicked on the light switch and walked to my room to get changed.

My apartment wasn't very big. A kitchen adjoined with a living room, a single bedroom, and a bathroom. Al of the rooms were fairly empty, they had no me in them. There were some of the basics, a stove, refrigerator, a couch, a television, a bed, a closet, a desk, a bathtub, two sinks, and a toilet. There were smaller things, like plants, lights, school books, and clothes. It needed some pictures or sentimental items. I'll have to ask dad tomorrow to drop off some of my personal items.

I made a Tombstone cheese pizza as I took a quick shower and dressed in my uniform (3). What I didn't finish, I packed away in Tupperware containers for tomorrow.

**

* * *

**

Mifune and Angela were there, eating either a late dinner or a snack.

"Pretty Lady!" Angela cried, seeing me. She jumped off her usual stool and ran to give me a hug. "Soul was just talking about you."

"He was?" I asked curiously. She took me by the hand and led me over to where Soul and Mifune were.

"I was not!" Soul growled, pouting.

"Were too! Lying is not nice, Soul. Don't lie to Pretty Lady."

This conversation seemed vaguely familiar... and Angela needs to learn my name (4).

"I'm not lying." Soul said.

"Liar!" Angela cried, pointing accusingly at him. She looked up at me. "He wanted to ask you a question."

"Did not!"

"What did he want to ask me?" I asked innocently.

"Um..." Angela thought for a moment. "I can't remember. Soul, what did you want to ask Pretty Lady?"

"It's not important right now." Soul sighed.

"Liar."

"I'm not lying."

"Uh-huh!"

"Nuh-uh!"

"Uh-huh!"

"Nuh-uh!"

"Soul," I said, "you sound like you're seven."

He shut up and Angela snickered.

The café was quiet for several minutes. Angela broke it by asking me a question.

"Pretty Lady, do you want to hear a story?" she asked.

"Why not." I said. It would kill time.

"Once upon a time there was a man and a woman who had long, but to no avail, wished for a child. Finally the woman came to believe that the good Lord would fulfill her wish. Through the small rear window of these people's house they could see into a splendid garden that was filled with the most beautiful flowers and herbs. The garden was surrounded by a high wall, and no one dared enter, because it belonged to a sorceress who possessed great power and was feared by everyone.

"One day the woman was standing at this window, and she saw a bed planted with the most beautiful rapunzel. It looked so fresh and green that she longed for some. It was her greatest desire to eat some of the rapunzel. This desire increased with every day, and not knowing how to get any, she became miserably ill.

"Her husband was frightened, and asked her, 'What ails you, dear wife?'

"'Oh,' she answered, 'if I do not get some rapunzel from the garden behind our house, I shall die.'

"The man, who loved her dearly, thought, 'Before you let your wife die, you must get her some of the rapunzel, whatever the cost.'

"So just as it was getting dark he climbed over the high wall into the sorceress's garden, hastily dug up a handful of rapunzel, and took it to his wife. She immediately made a salad from it, which she devoured eagerly. It tasted so very good to her that by the next day her desire for more had grown threefold. If she were to have any peace, the man would have to climb into the garden once again. Thus he set forth once again just as it was getting dark. But no sooner than he had climbed over the wall than, to his horror, he saw the sorceress standing there before him.

"'How can you dare,' she asked with an angry look, 'to climb into my garden and like a thief to steal my rapunzel? You will pay for this.'

"'Oh,' he answered, 'Let mercy overrule justice. I cam to do this out of necessity. My wife saw your rapunzel from our window, and such a longing came over her, that she would die, if she did not get some to eat.'

"The sorceress's anger abated somewhat, and she said, 'If things are as you say, I will allow you to take as much rapunzel as you want. But under one condition: You must give me the child that your wife will bring to the world. It will do well, and I will take care of it like a mother.'

"In his fear the man agreed to everything.

"When the woman gave birth, the sorceress appeared, named the little girl Rapunzel, and took her away. Rapunzel became the most beautiful child under the sun. When she was twelve years old, the fairy locked her in a tower that stood in a forest and that had neither a door nor a stairway, but only a tiny little window at the very top.

"When the sorceress wanted to enter, she stood below and called out:

'Rapunzel, Rapunzel,  
Let down your hair.'

"Rapunzel had splendid long hair, as fine as spun gold. When she heard the sorceress's voice, she untied her braids, wound them around a window hook, let her hair fall twenty yards to the ground, and the sorceress climbed up it.

"A few years later it happened that a king's son was riding through the forest. As he approached the tower he heard a song so beautiful that he stopped to listen. It was Rapunzel, who was passing the time by singing with her sweet voice. The prince wanted to climb up to her, and looked for a door in the tower, but none was to be found.

"He rode home, but the song had so touched his heart that he returned to the forest every day and listened to it. One time, as he was thus standing behind a tree, he saw the sorceress approach, and heard her say:

'Rapunzel, Rapunzel,  
Let down your hair.'

"Then Rapunzel let down her strands of hair, and the sorceress climbed up them to her.

"'If that is the ladder into the tower, then sometime I will try my luck.'

"And the next day, just as it was beginning to get dark, he went to the tower and called out:

'Rapunzel, Rapunzel,  
Let down your hair.'

"The hair fell down, and the prince climbed up.

"At first Rapunzel was terribly frightened when a man such as she had never seen before came in to her. However, the prince began talking to her in a very friendly manner, telling her that his heart had been so touched by her singing that he could have no peace until he had seen her in person. Then Rapunzel lost her fear, and when he asked her if she would take him as her husband, she thought, 'He would rather have me than would old Frau Gothel.' She said yes and placed her hand into his. She said, 'I would go with you gladly, but I do not know how to get down. Every time that you come, bring a strand of silk, from which I will weave a ladder. When it is finished I will climb down, and you can take me away on your horse.' They arranged that he would come to her every evening, for the old woman came by day.

"The sorceress did not notice what was happening until one day Rapunzel said to her, 'Frau Gothel, tell me why it is that you are more difficult to pull up than is the young prince, who will be arriving any moment now?'

"'You godless child,' cried the sorceress. 'What am I hearing from you? I thought I had removed you from the whole world, but you have deceived me nonetheless.'

"In her anger she grabbed Rapunzel's beautiful hair, wrapped it a few times around her left hand, grasped a pair of scissors with her right hand, and snip snap, cut it off. And she was so unmerciful that she took Rapunzel into a wilderness where she suffered greatly.

"On the evening of the same day that she sent Rapunzel away, the fairy tied the cut-off hair to the hook at the top of the tower, and when the prince called out:

'Rapunzel, Rapunzel,  
Let down your hair.'

"She let down the hair.

"The prince climbed up, but above, instead of his beloved Rapunzel, he found the sorceress, who peered at him with poisonous and evil looks.

"'Aha!' she cried scornfully. 'You have come for your Mistress Darling, but that beautiful bird is no longer sitting in her nest, nor is she singing any more. The cat got her, and will scratch your eyes out as well. You have lost Rapunzel. You will never see her again.'

"The prince was overcome with grief, and in his despair he threw himself from the tower. He escaped with his life, but the thorns into which he fell poked out his eyes. Blind, he wandered about in the forest, eating nothing but grass and roots, and doing nothing but weeping and wailing over the loss of his beloved wife. Thus he wandered about miserably for some years, finally happening into the wilderness where Rapunzel lived miserably with the twins that she had given birth to.

"He heard a voice and thought it was familiar. He advanced toward it, and as he approached, Rapunzel recognized him, and crying, threw her arms around his neck. Two of her tears fell into his eyes, and they became clear once again, and he could see as well as before. He led her into his kingdom, where he was received with joy, and for a long time they lived happily and satisfied.

"Do you know what the moral of the story is?" Angela asked when she'd finished.

"Uh..." I said, trying to think. "Not really, no."

"Communication is _everything_. If you don't tell the person what you want to say, they'll never understand you. That, and stealing is wrong. I'm ready to go now, Mifune."

Mifune nodded and paid Soul.

They were almost out the door when Angela remembered something.

"Soul," she said, "don't forget to ask Pretty Lady your question."

Soul reddened at the statement.

"What did you need to ask me, Soul?" I asked.

"Nothing." he sighed. "Just forget about it."

I decided it would be better not to press him. I can bug him later when I got off.

"How's everything going?" Wes asked, poking his head in to see our progress.

"Fine." Soul and I answered at the same time. We peeked at each other out of the corner of our eyes and caught each other looking. We both quickly turned away.

"Have you asked her to mom and dad's ball yet?" he asked.

Say 'what,' now?

* * *

**Footnotes:**

**1. My aunt is a lot like Tsubaki in real life, quite, shy, and very modest. So, when I found out that she listens to nu metal, I was like, "Tsubaki must listen to nu metal too!" ...It's my mind, and I'm legally insane. There's not much you can do.**

**2. Tsubaki is Japanese, we can clearly tell that by her name. Maka is an American in this fic. This whole story takes place somewhere.**

**Okay, there are a lot this time so, hold onto your hats, folks!**

**Thank you to SukiFujisaki, Kashii Ai, and Kateland for adding me to your Favorite Authors list.**

**3. Get it? This takes place in Death City and Maka's eating Tombstone pizza? ...I thought it was funny.**

**4. ...Check Chapter 3.**

**Thank you to SukiFujisaki, Writer of Whispers, Amaya Kuroda, AuralRaven, SingerToPotatos, Dontmezwitme, Gaara's Teddy Bear, silvermonkeyhunter, monkeywinz, shugocharapimp, karinluvforeva95, XxSkyexBluexX, Meep Forever, VAMPIRELG, mynamebecait09, Kashii Ai, slioe, trediciottobre, kpopgurl88, yingyang-fairy, artist-girl731, Kateland, and for adding this story to their Favorite Stories list.**

**Thank you to Amaya Kuroda, SukiFujisaki, LOVElessLoser968, Dontmezwitme, SingerToPotatos, phoenixfire3473, Gaara's Teddy Bear, Taylorlatte girl, shugocharapimp, XxSkyexBluexX, Meep Forever, cherryberryXD, .ei, VAMPIRELG, PurpleRanchDressing0987, hinatakanme, stealthclaw, Amaru7227, artist-girl731, and Kateland for adding this to your Story Alerts.**

**Thank you to SukiFujisaki, Kashii Ai, Kateland, and Ruse21 for adding me to your Author Alerts.**

**No for reviews:**

**Loonalily, you're welcome! I'd been wanting to add them for a while and I realized I could slide them right into this fic at that part very easily.**

**Writer of Whispers, I'm glad the footnotes help. And thank you for saying that my grammar is great, it's kind of an OCD of mine (I'm a Grammar Nazi XD). I'm glad you enjoy it and I hope you keep reading , all caps— eek! Ha ha, I'm glad you're liking , sorry for making you wait ever so patiently for this Ghost, I am no stalker! ...Of normal , yep kryptonite was spelled , yeah I wasn't expecting them to interact so soon. It just... happened! ^_^Lexi-Rwan, :) you're welcome!Dontmezwitme, eek! I don't like people watching me. It makes me very, very self-conscious. I offer this chocolate, chocolate chip muffin as a peace offering. Thank you for being so 's Teddy Bear, thank you! I hope you liked this chapter. :)evilpheonix94, sorry I couldn't get this up earlier (see Announcement for explanation).Novalia1001, okay, I understand where you're coming from. Maka is definitely NOT a damsel is distress, but this is an AU fic. In my little alternate universe, she doesn't have the training that she did in the original universe. That doesn't mean that in my AU she can't kick butt (because she totally can). She was mostly being smart about the situation. I mean if a dozen buff guys with guns surrounding you, what would you do?XxSkyexBluexX, no! Not the ninja kitties! My tuna! My tuuuuuuuuna!Meep Forever, hope you liked this chapter!cherryberryXD, XD!ambrie-chan, I'm sorry I hurt your feelings. But to make it **_**all**_**, better I got this done. .ei., thank you!IchigoOtaku01, you made my dad and thank you for being so 0987, I'm glad you don't mind waiting. :) Thank you! ...By the way, you're name reminds me of Barney. I think it's the purple thing, but I'm not sure why besides .Zayriah, I'm glad you absolutely-positively love this story!hinatakaname, thanks a honey bunches of oats!Kateland, well I love people who love things (especially my stories)!**

**Whoo! Finally... That was a lot. Anyway, review and all that. **

**Angela is so smart for remembering **_**Rapunzel**_**. Took me forever to type up... then I realized that several websites have it up and I could've just copied and pasted. Enjoy me efforts! Fun little note about the fairy tale, in the first edition that the Brothers Grimm wrote Rapunzel asks the witch (Frau Gothel) why her clothes are so tight around her stomach, not why she's so heavy. I had an "lol" moment when I read that for the first time.**


	8. Dress Shop Sock Hop

**I was going to try to update on Christmas, but things got busy and I didn't have this chapter done in time. And then my uncle got me **_**Scrubs: The Complete First Season**_** and a gift card for Borders. I got **_**Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West**_** by Gregory Maguire. I had borrowed a copy from the library (that is closing down next year) and a copy from my cousin (seven years ago), but I had never really read it. I'm on the second part and all I can think is: Politics. I **_**hate**_** politics. It comes from being in the Chicagoland area.**

**Anyway, between **_**Scrubs**_** and **_**Wicked**_**, I have been thoroughly entertained. And coming up with ideas for this fic and a few others.**

**So, everyone have a great New Year party?**

**I ACTUALLY KNOW WHERE THE STORY'S GOING FROM HERE ON OUT. I apologize for the caps.) For the longest time, I was trying to figure out how I wanted the story to end and how to lead up to the ending. After hanging out with my cousin while he was playing **_**Assassins Creed II**_**, which is a lot better than **_**Assassins Creed**_**, I got ideas. A LOT of ideas. Most of them were off the top of my head. As the story goes on, see what was inspired by the game.**

**Want to know the names of Soul and Wes's parents? You'll find out in this chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Eater or any of the characters. They all belong to Atsushi Okubo, who is signed under Square Enix in Japan and Yen Press in North America. The anime is directed by Takuya Igarashi, and produced by Bones, Aniplex, Dentsu, Media Factory, TV Tokyo.**

**Claimer: I do own Café Evans and Maggie. **

* * *

**CAFÉ EVANS**

**by infidelityONcrank**

**Chapter 7**

_**Dress Shop Sock Hop **_

I gasped as the corset of the dress was tightened in the back.

"Can't... breath." I managed to say to the dresser at the shop. She nodded and loosened it a bit, enabling me to breath somewhat.

"Uhmm..." Maggie said, inspecting every inch of me in the gown. Tsubaki stood silently next to her.

Yesterday, Soul was _supposed_ to ask me to the illustrious Evans' Annual Masquerade. His brother and my employer, Wes, happened to mention it and, well, chaos ensued. There was screaming and a whole lot of yelling. Luckily, there had been no customers.

Now, for Soul's punishment enforced by Maggie and Wes, he had to join me, Maggie, and Tsubaki in dress searching. And let me tell you, it's not easy.

This is the sixth store we've been to today and there was no telling when we'd been done. Actually, we'd be done for the day once the stores close and Soul and I have to work. But that was another issue.

For now...

"I'm bored." Soul moaned from the chair that had been placed for him.

"That's nice." Maggie said, tugging here and there at the skirt to fix it. She looked at the dresser and said, "I don't like the way this lays on her. Do you have anymore?"

"Well, we have one but—" the dresser began.

"No 'if's, 'and's, 'or's, or 'but's. I want to see that gown on this girl, and I want to see it on her _now_ (1)!"

One thing I learned on this little shopping trip, Maggie was scary when she was mad or demanding.

"Turn around, Soul." Maggie commanded. He did, grumbling the whole time. She helped me out of the vibrant red dress with black trim as we waited. That was the theme of all of the dresses I was made to try on, black and red. It was all fine and dandy for a while, but then we got to the fourth store and it was all repetitive from there. We didn't have any luck in finding a dress for me that suited Maggie's taste.

"Hey, Maggie?" I asked, adjusting myself so I was much more comfortable.

"Yeas, Maka?"

"Why does my dress have to be black and red? Why not just black or red?"

"You have to match Soul and Soul always wears black and red. Besides most of the women wear black anyway and you need to stand out of the crowd a little more, thus the red. Trust me, formal parties are a lot of fuss and bicker and fitting in and standing out. they're fun but also a bore. Trust me, they're complicated."

"You've only been to two." Soul said from his spot, back to us. His head was turned only so slightly.

"Don't look!" I shrieked, attempting to cover myself and failing miserably.

"There's nothing to look at."

Before I could snap back witty banter, the dresser and three assistants came in. Each was carrying something as if they were of great importance and trembling slightly.

"It's a several layered dress— a rather new design by a new stylist (2)." the dresser said. "She calls it 'Pierrette,' after the character."

"Pierrette." Tsubaki said, thinking the name over. "It suits Maka."

"Let's see this dress." Maggie sighed.

It was a multi-layered Harlequin styled dress. The bottom most layer was the black petticoats (3), then was the Harlequin print skirt. The black and red diamonds offset each other. Over that was a black velvet top, whose skirt angled down to my left. And the top layer was a shorter red silk top that angled to my right.

Surprisingly, it fit. Almost. The skirt and petticoats were a little on the long side. They would have to be hemmed.

The dresser and one of the assistants began immediately pinning and checking length.

"They would be hemmed in an hour." the dresser told us as I slipped out of the dress and into my normal clothes.

"What can we do in an hour?" I asked the others as we left the dress shop. Our stomach grumbled from the lack of food that we hadn't eaten.

"I say we eat." Maggie said, walking down the sidewalk, not waiting for us to follow. We quickly caught up to her.

She led us up to a small diner, where we seated ourselves in a booth next to a window.

"What can I get you folks?" a waitress asked walking over to us. She chomped on her gum like a cow chewed on cud. Her hair was hair sprayed into a beehive style with faint wisps of ash blonde hair glued in places centimeters away from the rest. She looked like a classic 50's diner waitress (4).

We ordered our beverages respectively and contemplated what we'd get to eat. Tsubaki and I settled on Italian beef, Maggie grilled cheese with tomato soup, and Soul a double cheeseburger. It didn't take long for the food to arrive. We ate in silence.

When we finished, only forty-five minutes had passed. It was decided that we would walk around for a while before heading back to the dress shop.

As we walked, Maggie and Tsubaki talked about various things. I fell next to Soul. Neither of us looked the other in the eye nor did we strike up a conversation.

"If you have something to say, say it." Soul said, breaking the silence between us.

"I don't have anything to say." I replied.

"Really? Because it seems like you do."

"I honestly don't."

"Are you sure?"

"Are you just trying to make me mad?"

"...Maybe."

I rolled my eyes and walked faster, which was rather pointless because he caught up with me in three strides.

"Have you ever danced before?" he asked.

"Huh?"

"Have you ever danced before?"

"Sure, at school dances."

"I mean ballroom, as in waltz, foxtrot, quickstep..."

"No, not really. No... At weddings mostly, when I was younger."

He sighed.

"I guess I'll have to go over basics tonight."

"Basics? Basics of what?"

"Ballroom dancing, Maka (5)."

**

* * *

**

I don't think I've ever felt more stupid and clumsy than I ever have that night. Soul was _attempting_ to teach me how to waltz. I didn't inherit any of my mother's natural grace.

Crona had come to visit and had watched us silently.

Soul finally said we could take a break.

"Maka, maybe you shouldn't watch your feet." Crona suggested, handing me a glass of water.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"You always watch your feet."

"I'm still getting used to it."

"Whatever you say, Maka." Soul said. "Whatever you say."

"Hey, Soul?" I asked.

"What?"

"What're your parents like?"

"Viola and Charles (6)? Charles is... not really sane, to say the least. And Viola... Well, let's just say she's overprotective and wants me to marry the correct woman."

* * *

**1. So, Maggie is kind of like my cousin, normally very quite and kind but when she wants something she can be very loud and demanding. I think it comes with being the eldest in my family because I find myself to be like that too. At least I'm not a total biznitch like my little sister, a.k.a. Face. Her nickname is a reference to Faceman of **_**The A-Team**_**.**

**2. Gee, I wonder who the designer was. Anyone want to take a guess?**

**3. Petticoats are those underskirts that you see in movies and sometimes on Halloween. They were originally worn to give women the shape that was so desired at the time. Most of the time, they're rather pretty. Especially with Venice lace. Be glad I'm not making her wear a chemise or a hoop skirt. The chemise I don't mind too much but hoopskirts are the **_**worst**_** when it comes to costumes for plays. I';ve worn one once, that's how I know.**

**4. I went to this diner somewhere and there was a waitress that had a beehive hairdo. I chocked on my water the first time I saw her. Apparently, it's quite trendy right now... even though it looks **_**horrible**_** on almost everyone and makes their head look ridiculously huge. To those of you who can pull it off without hair extensions, good for you! The rest of us will simply hope the hair spray sticks for those Suzie-cues we want.**

**5. I love ballroom dancing. I feel so... **_**elegant**_** when I'm dancing.**

**6. Ladies and gentlemen, Viola and Charles won the polls. I didn't really write down who voted for who, so many of you could have voted twice and I never really would have known (unless I looked at the reviews). Just letting you guys know.**

* * *

**Thank you's to Sing a Song 119, Sakyhime-chan, Alice in Plaid, and Earth Requiem for adding this to their favorites.**

**Thank you's to Kiku18, HeadlessLucy, AmethystMusician, -Insert Spazz Dance Here-, and wannafly for adding this to their story alerts.**

**Thank you's to kpopgurl88 and Joanie-who-loves-you for adding me to their favorite authors list.**

****

ambrie-chan: Yes, Wes _should_ time things better and I am very glad that you enjoy this fic.  
Kiku18: Thank you very much for approving of me. :D Don't worry, I'm _horrible_ when it comes to spelling characters' names. I always misspell "Albarn." I have a neighbor whose last name is Albern and is pronounced the same way. And, yes, you did spell Ragnarok correctly.  
kpopgurl18: Yes, the vote was still going on. It officially ended with this chapter. Your votes were added.  
megolass: Thank you for your vote.  
Midnight Ghost: Yes, Repunzel is stupid. Very stupid. But not as stupid as some of the other fairy tale princesses out there.  
Alice in Plaid: I'm glad you love the story. :)  
Katsumara: I will keep up the fine work. And, isn't it an interesting read?  
XxSkyexBluexX: You know what's funny? I picked up _When Ninjas Attack_ and have been super paranoid ever since I read it. Reading your review reminded me.  
reader: Yeah, Soul is a lot more sarcastic in the anime and he is a bit nicer in here, but he's calmed down more in the manga as the story goes on. (I just recently caught up on . Next chapter is coming out on the 12th.) Twinkies do spoil. Their shelf-life is 25 days (). It's an urban legend.  
VAMPRELG: Well, here's the next chapter!  
Sakyhime-chan: Lethologic are we?  
Ryo Hoshi: Ah, a musical fan. Loved _Into the Woods_. I have no sympathy for Rapunzel's prince either. The story just kind of fit.  
SingerToPotatos: Sloth is one of the Seven Deadly Sins! (gasp) It's cool.

* * *

**So, **_**The Reckoning**_**, the third book to Kelley Armstrong's **_**Darkest Powers Trilogy**_** won't be released until May 10 everywhere. If you haven't picked up the first two books, **_**The Summoning**_** and **_**The Awakening**_**, I suggest that you do so. In the meantime, while I wait I will be reading Brent Weeks' **_**The Night Angel Trilogy**_**. **

**I have a thing for trilogies, just so you know... and darkness. I mean, I finished **_**The Lord of the Rings Trilogy**_** with no problem at all. The first book is a bit of a struggle to get through, as it's all introductions, but after they leave Rivendell it starts to get exciting.**

**I will try to get the next chapter up as soon as possible. I start classes next week.**


	9. Idle Chatter

**Check out my profile, yo. I have a poll on something important... I need to know what to write next. I mean, this fic has five to six more chapters (minimum) left in it, but I want to start planning ahead... so I can write more and have a regular schedule. All of those stories will eventually get written, but it's so I know what to write first.**

**About the last chapter... Yeah. I was kind of sitting there, wanting to continue it. I just didn't know how, so I posted it. So, if it seemed like a poor ending to it, I apologize. Also, I'm very dizzy right now. Typing this up was kind of like me rocking back and forth, singing along to Breaking Benjamin, and reading the lyrics I accidentally types up. It was quite interesting.**

**This chapter, now... I needed to just write a whole lot of dialogue. I had the need to. It's kind of easy to pick out who says what. For those who can't seem to, the first part is Maka and Soul respectively, the second part is Soul and Maka respectively, the third Maka and Soul respectively, and the fourth Maka and Soul respectively.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Eater or any of the characters. They all belong to Atsushi Okubo, who is signed under Square Enix in Japan and Yen Press in North America. The anime is directed by Takuya Igarashi, and produced by Bones, Aniplex, Dentsu, Media Factory, TV Tokyo. I do not own **_**That 70's Show**_**, **_**Punk'd**_**, **_**The Room, Santa Claus Conquers the Martians**_**, **_**I Know Who Killed Me**_**, **_**Kazaam**_**, **_**All About Steve**_**, **_**Monty Python and the Holy Grail**_**, or Ashton Kutcher.**

**Claimer: I do own Café Evans, Maggie, Charles, and Viola.**

* * *

**CAFÉ EVANS**

**by infidelityONcrank**

**Chapter 8**

_**Idle Chatter**_

"Why are we leaving early? The Masquerade isn't for, like, another five days."

"Viola and Charles. Mostly Viola. You have to pass a test."

"Test? Ugh! I just finished finals. I'm not ready for another test."

"Not _that_ kind of test."

"I can't help it, it's seven in the freaking morning. I'm not a morning person."

"Well, luckily for you, the household doesn't normally get up until eight."

"That's still early."

"Not as early as seven."

"...Am I on _Punk'd_ or something?"

"What?"

"_Punk'd_, you know, the show where people play pranks on celebrities and it's hosted by what's his face from _That 70's Show_?"

"Topher Grace?"

"Who?"

"Foreman."

"No, the idiot guy... Kelso!"

"From _Scrubs_?"

"No, Kelso from _That 70's Show_. God, you're stupid."

"Says the girl who can't name the actor who play Kelso on _That 70's Show_. His name's Ashton Kutcher, by the way."

"Yeah, the Ashton guy!"

"Is that show still even on?"

"It was. Like at 12:30 in the morning. Don't know if it _still_ is. It might be. I haven't been near a television set in, like, months. Wow, you know what?"

"What?"

"I've been working with you for, like, four months now."

"Maka?"

"Yeah?"

"Go to sleep."

"Don't want to."

"Maka..."

"Fine (1)."

**

* * *

**

"You awake?"

"Yeah."

"Feeling normal?"

"What's normal anymore?"

"Good point."

"And what do you mean by 'feeling normal?' It was freaking early! How long is this drive?"

"You were talking like you were high or something. And we have another four hours before we get to the place where I spent most of my childhood. Mostly trying to escape from Nanny Gertrude, but, you know, who likes Nannies names Gertrude (2)."

"I was running on two hours of sleep, thank you. And who the hell names their kid 'Gertrude?' It's, like, cursing them to damnation or something."

"What's with the 'like' thing? You said it a lot a few hours ago."

"Sorry, I get all valley girl when I'm tired... I'm still tired, just letting you know. It happens when you hangout with Tsubaki. A lot. In high school. God, we were so stupid. Never did actually do our senior prank. How long is this drive? You never told me the first time I asked."

"You guys were valley girls in high school? ...I can't picture it. The drive nine hours total (3)."

"I was a smart valley girl, thank you very much, Mister Soul Eater Evans. And frick the what? _Nine_ hours? You've got to be kidding me!"

"I kind you not, Maka _Marie_ Albarn (4)."

"How'd you find out my middle name?!"

"Try talking with your dad. Apparently, someone's been a very bad daughter since she started college."

"You _called_ me _dad_? He doesn't deserve to know what I'm doing. He freaking cheated on my mom for _nineteen_ years. More than that, now that I think about it."

"Is the yelling a part of the tired thing, because I think my eardrums are damaged."

"Sorry, but seriously, why'd you have to call my dad?"

"Just to let him know where you'd be. He seemed happy that you were invited to the Masquerade."

"I wasn't really invited. The _idiot_ I'm going with was too much of a _coward_ to ask me. His _brother_ happened to mention it and I _made_ him ask me."

"Did you ever stop to think that the idiot, as you call him, was nervous?"

"...You were nervous?"

"Yep."

"About asking me?"

"Uh-huh."

"To a dance?"

"More like 'costumed ball,' but you got it."

"Oh..."

**

* * *

**

"You ever see that movie, _The Room_ (5)?"

"No, is it any good?"

"_God_, no! It's one of the worst movie ever made."

"Sounds like _Santa Claus Conquers the Martians_ (6)."

"That's an _actual_ movie?"

"I thought Black Star was joking when he said he'd gone to see it."

"Who do you think found out about it? He's not one to look in a newspaper."

"He's not one to go anywhere _near_ a newspaper. Is it as bad as _I Know Who Killed Me_?"

"Worse."

"You know another bad movie?"

"_Kazaam_?"

"No, but that's bad too. _All About Steve_."

"No way. I liked that movie. I didn't think it was _that_ bad. I mean, it was okay, but bad? No freaking way!"

"It was about a woman who was stalking a camera man. She made crosswords for a living. She was desperate. She wore red boots, Maka."

"So? Maybe I want to make crosswords for a living. Maybe I was red boots. And she wasn't stalking him, she was just following him with the help of hi co-worker."

"...If you get red boots, I'm not talking to you anymore."

"But the red boots are what made her a memorable character!"

"I'm serious, you get red boots, I'll never talk to you."

"But they're red _gogo_ boots, Soul!"

"I swear, I'll ask the driver to pull over and drop you off here."

"It's the middle of nowhere!"

"See if I don't."

"You need me."

"No, I don't."

"Your mom will set you up with someone you hate."

"...I hate you."

**

* * *

**

"Got any fives?"

"Go fish. Got any threes?"

"Here."

"Got any twos."

"Go fish. Got any fives?"

"Didn't you ask that already?"

"Yeah, but do you?"

"Here, take 'em."

"Thank you. Got any nines?"

"Nope. Go fish. Kings?"

"Go fish. Aces?"

"Go fish. Twos?"

"So how many more hours?"

"Uh, an hour and a half. Got any fours?"

"Go fish. Queens?"

"Go fish. Can we play a different game now? Go Fish is boring."

"Sure. How about War?"

"Go fish!"

* * *

**1. This was based off a conversation I had with one of my friends at 5:34 A.M. I don't know why either of us was awake, but we were. Seriously. That was our conversation. Actually, everything you read was based off something my friend and I talked about. (She was in Texas all of break, I missed her, she missed me.) Be glad it wasn't about the air speed velocity of an unladen sparrow. For those who have never seen **_**Monty Python and the Holy Grail**_**, go bash your head in with the sharp edge of a rounded corner. (Think about that for a second.) Sorry, I'm a cult follower. The ending of **_**Holy Grail**_** is my favorite... No really, it's the Black Knight scene (which was going to be cut, but is now the most famous scene of the whole movie) and the Killer Rabbit. I need to stop rambling now... Ha ha, coconuts.**

**2. I had a teacher who I didn't like names Gertrude. I apologize to anyone if that is your name.**

**3. I was watching **_**9**_**. Sorry.**

**4. Her middle name's not Marie. I made it up. She doesn't really have a given middle name. I just kind of needed one for this fic.**

**5. **_**The Room**_** is so bad, it's good. It's rated R, because it deals with sex, drugs, and alcohol but it's funny. So many things are brought up randomly and never again talked about. The voiceover is hysterical, though.**

**6. Yes, **_**Santa Claus Conquers the Martians**_** is an actual movie. I've never seen it, but my friends have and they said it was the funniest thing. Not as funny and **_**The Room**_**, but still funny.**

* * *

**Thank you to Sakyhime-chan for adding me to your favorite authors list.**

**Thank you's to Amaya Kuroda and Once.. for adding me to their author alert list.**

**Thank you's to vreni, Fantasy Fan Girl, and fire19 for adding this to their story alert list.**

**Thank you's to Once.., Cuna999, fire19, and Iz Demon for adding this to their favorite stories list.**

******Katsumara: Ballroom dancing has alway been one of my favorite pasttimes, although my usual partner is off at a college somewhere far away from me.  
SingerToPotatos: Well... I'm not witty on the spot. I'll try to think of something to say.  
ambrie-chan: We're only a few chapters away from the ball right now. As I said up above (before the chapter started) there's maybe five or six chapter left at minimum, but there could be more. The ball takes up three or four of those five or six chapters.  
vreni: I understood what you meant. :) If you met me in real life, I'm not as spaztastic as I am when I I write these notes. I'm actually very calm and quiet... unless of course you mention that there's DDR or Rock Band. THEN, I'm spaztastic.  
Midnight Ghost: I mentioned three trilogies. _Darkest Powers_ by Kelley Armstrong, _The Night Angel Trilogy_ by Brent Weeks, and _The Lord of the Rings_ by J. J. R. Tolkien. All three I recommend. I'm actually working on a list of books that I advise everyone to read or at least try to. Hopefully, I will be up on my homepage soon.  
Lady Zayriah: Smiles!  
Cuna99: Angela is so adorable when she calls Maka "Pretty Lady." This little girl I know, I call her my niece but we're not blood related, calls me "Pretty Lady" sometimes and it just kind of seemed to fit.  
megolass: I apologize right now because I do not speak French and I had to use a translator (my younger sister). But, um, _merci_. Maka and Soul shall dance again!  
fire19: Proper grammar is one of the biggest things I try to excel in, mostly because I have an OCD for it. I almost hyperventilated when I got a paper back and there were two simple mistakes. It doesn't bother me if a review doesn't use proper grammar, though, I'm used to it. It bothers me if _I_ wrote the review and it doesn't use proper grammar. Oni-chan calling Maka 'Miss. Evans' was really a mistake on my part... I didn't edit the chapter well enough.**

* * *

**Something I forgot to mention the last chapter, I have a sketch of what Maka's dress looks like (in case you wanted to see it) on my homepage in the Photo Albums (CAFÉ EVANS). Also, I have a Guestbook page. You can say hi or leave some spam or whatever.**

**I start my classes tomorrow. I'll try to have another chapter up before Valentine's Day, but we'll see what happens. **

**I've just started to develop Norma and Esther into real characters, and quite frankly they both scare me. A bit. Viola's character I have down to the marrow in her bones. She was easy to create. Charles was much more... interesting. The Evans family is quite a story by themselves.**

**The whole time I'm creating those four, I have "Thank Goodness" from **_**Wicked**_** stuck in my head. My cousin, who does a lot more drawing than I do, drew Norma singing the song. I liked the outfit he created for her, so I'm probably going to use it for her everyday wear.**


	10. Death by Hugs

**One of these days I'm going to get a writer's block and not be able to write anymore. Anyway, I made two trailers for my modern fairy tale. There's a link on my profile that goes directly to the page (I keep telling people this!). I had to make a trailer for a book in my film study class and the first one on the page is it. It's the edited version without the credits. The second one is one I made today in less than a half hour. Thank god for YouTube and Media Converter.**

**You guys can't even begin to imagine how awesome the story is right now... from what I have planned for it. I've just finished the prologue. It will be released this May after all of my classes are over and all of my finals are taken. The last class in May 14 and it's my Psychology class.**

**I finished a paper for my Rhetoric class yesterday for today. Seven pages, double spaced of course. (I'm not counting the works cited page.) It's about the American family. Quite interesting, really. My paragraph on how the government plays a role in it is just kind of... me rambling about the quotes. The others flow just fine. I think it's my dislike for politics in general that made that paragraph hard to write. Oh well.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Eater or any of the characters. They all belong to Atsushi Okubo, who is signed under Square Enix in Japan and Yen Press in North America. The anime is directed by Takuya Igarashi, and produced by Bones, Aniplex, Dentsu, Media Factory, TV Tokyo.**

**Claimer: I do own Café Evans, Maggie, Charles, Viola, Norma, Esther, the maids, the butler, and Daniel Slavska.**

* * *

**CAFÉ EVANS**

**by infidelityONcrank**

**Chapter 9**

_**Death by Hugs**_

The Evans household was too big to put into words. Really, it was. The lawn, from what I could see, was immeasurable. The drive up to the house had lasted ten, maybe fifteen, minutes. And the house... It was a large Gothic piece of architecture, elegant and fierce.

I stepped out of the limo that had been driven by an elderly man to find myself gawking at the place. Soul had to grab my wrist and jerk me up the stairs that lead to the immense front door... which lead to an immense room so clean and spotless it was scary.

A tall woman with hair as white as Soul's stood waiting for us and watching our every move. When Soul saw her, he froze. His grip on my wrist tightened.

"Mother." he seemed to strangle the words out.

"Soul." the woman said bitterly. Her eyes, just as red and piercing as Soul's turned to me. "And who is this?"

"This is Maka Albarn. She is my guest."

I almost wanted to take the pocket knife out of my back pocket and try to cut the tension. His mother didn't seem all bad. She was a rather stiff, uptight woman, but she seemed nice enough once you got to know her.

"Hello, Miss. Maka Albarn." she said.

"Hello, Mrs. Viola Evans." I said, trying to seem less intimidated than I was. She smiled, a light breezy smile that was small. She was amused. "Soul has told me quite a bit about you."

"Funny, he has never peeped a word about you. Shall we take tea in the green room?"

I looked at Soul, he nodded slightly.

"It sounds lovely."

**

* * *

**

Viola Evans was everything a hostess was supposed to be. She was all fancy words, wit, intelligence, and grace. She served expensive tea from places that I've never even heard of, and I'm called a know-it-all mind you. The little finger foods were crumbly and sweet, the biscuits rich with butter and honey. I tried not to pig out on them, like many would probably do in my place, I nibbled and chatted. I tried to laugh as sincerely as I could, but it was hard when Soul would pinch me every thirty seconds.

She was a woman of class and style, who knew when people were honest and when they weren't.

"Maka, tell me, honestly now, dear, what was your first opinion of me?" she asked. Soul stiffened beside me. This would make me a friend or a foe in the near future. Maggie had explained it to me last night. You impress her, you're her friend; you insult her, you're her enemy and she'll ruin you. She's done it before, just ask Daniel Slavska. Who's Daniel Slavska? Apparently someone who insulted her and paid for it.

"Well, honestly, from what Soul told me, you were something quite horrifying and something to be afraid of."

"Like the Wicked Witch of the West? Soul used to call me that all the time when he was younger."

"Exactly, but you are actually quite different. Now that I've seen you and I've talked to you, you're more fleshed out, more real, more human than anything." I was going to say 'more human than nightmarish monster,' but what I actually said seemed much more polite.

Viola smiled and nodded. I made it into the 'friend' category.

A swift, quiet knock rapped on the door, startling me.

"My Lady?" came a rather timid voice.

"Yes?" Viola answered.

"The Lord in home, as well as Miss. Esther and Miss. Norma."

Soul stiffened. His father and his sisters were home.

"Ah, the most glorious love of my life!" a tall man with dark hair burst in through the doors. He rushed over to Viola, swooped her up into his arms. She looked less than pleased with his actions.

"We have guests, Charles." she said bitterly.

For the first time, he noticed us.

"Soul!"

Soul was brought into a fierce embrace. I think I heard something break.

"Father, you're going to kill him." said a little girl, who was rather adorable, tugging on his pants leg.

Soul was dropped back onto the couch by my side, gasping for breath.

"But Esther...!"

"Father, stop acting like a child."

"But you're a child! How come you don't act like a child, Esther? Father wants to see his darling baby girl act like a child!" the man wailed, clamping onto his daughter.

The little girl, Esther, rolled her eyes and turned her attention to Soul.

"It's good to see you alive, big brother."

"Don't ignore your father!" Charles complained. Sadly he reminded me of someone. Someone I knew. Someone I despised.

He sulked away to his wife.

"Hey, Esther. Where's Norma?" he asked, fixing himself to be presentable again.

"With her husband."

"She got married?"

"Fourth husband."

"...Sounds like Norma."

"I give a week before she gets bored with him."

"I give him two days."

"Deal."

The two shook hands.

...Did they just bet on how long their sister was going to be with her husband? Her fourth husband at that?

"Who is this, big brother?" Esther asked.

"This is Maka Albarn." Soul said, introducing me to his younger sister. "She works at the café with me and Wes."

She looked me over and nodded.

"How is that going for you?" she asked.

"Uh, quite well, I suppose." I replied. I raised a brow but didn't question me.

She turned to Soul and asked, "So when are you two getting married?"

**

* * *

**

Norma Evans was exactly like her father, only female and younger. Her hair was just as dark and wavy. Her eyes as blue and cheerful.

"Oh, she's absolutely gorgeous, Soul!" she cried, clamping onto me. "Come on, let's go play dress up!"

She started to pull me up the stairs, probably to her bedroom. Soul pinched her wrist, causing her to let go. She yelped and held the tender spot.

"Soul, you're mean. Mother, did you see what Soul did?"

Unfortunately for her, Viola was fending off her husband.

"Big sister is a moron." Esther said, a slight smile on her cherubic face. Her hair was as white as Viola's and Soul's but her eyes were as blue as Charles' and Norma's.

"Mother, did you hear what Esther called me?"

"Is your family always like this?" I asked Soul quietly.

"They're normally calmer if one of Mother's friends are here and when it's early morning." he said.

"Ah."

"Miss. Albarn, would you like to be shown to your room?" the maid asked. I nodded and the three of us slunk away from the loud group.

For once, I think I was glad for my quiet, broken family.

* * *

**Thank you to Frozen Impulse, Skye The Golden Dragon, lilm1991, XxRamenChanxX, LooksknOweVehnEy143 L.O.V.E., dustbunnyhailey, TheNextAliceOwO, and SoulForAnime for adding this to their favorite stories.**

**Thank you to mynamebecait09, misa325, Writer4Lifef, dustbunnyhailey, Dragoness243, TomraHimeSama, LooksknOweVehnEy143 L.O.V.E., SoulForAnime, TheNextAliceOwO, and Musicfreak25 for adding this to their story alerts.**

**Thank you to OnceAQueenOfNarnia and LooksknOweVehnEy143 L.O.V.E. for adding me to their favorite authors list.**

**Loonalily: I love gogo boots. I really do want a pair... I have enough money and there's that new shoe place in the next town over. Hm...**

**VAMPIRELG: You're welcome. :D**

**xwannaflyx: I have the most random conversations with people. What's funny is the fact that I counted how often my friends and I changes the topic of our conversation in twenty minutes. It was changed 157 times. And it all random stuff.**

**Midnight Ghost: :) I try.**

**Cuna999: Did I make that mistake...? Oops. Shh, no one will know.**

**Fantasy Fan Girl: I would have liked to too... I just wouldn't be able to understand half of the things I would be saying, is all.**

**vreni: Well, I would love to meet you. Spaztastic is a mix of spastic and fantastic. I didn't have much rhythm before I played DDR. Somehow I manage to play... and sing... and dance... and act... at the same time. Musical theatre did something to my brain. I am working on improving my skills in all conversation chapters.**

**Katsumara: The story needed some fluff, so I decided that that would be adorable.**

**ambrie-chan: Random conversations are fun. Especially if you're half asleep and it's three in the morning.**

**ToriHimeSama: Go Fish is awesome. My friends and I were playing it yesterday. When we got to War, we knew we were bored. That's when we pulled out the Apples to Apples.**

**LooksknOweVehnEy143 L.O.V.E.: O.O Lots of exclamation points... I'm glad you enjoy this story.**

**SoulForAnime: I do that too! That's why I always go back through the archives to read the older stuff now.**

**Kiku18: They have a driver (I mentioned him this chapter). I'm sorry for not making that clear in the last chapter.**

**TheNextAliceOwO: I did get confusing, didn't it? I'm working on improving on that (writing an all conversation chapter). **

**Musicfreak25: Thank you!**

* * *

**Norma was based off my little sister and Esther was based off my boyfriend's younger sister. Viola was based off my boyfriend's mother and Charles was based off Spirit, if you couldn't tell.**

**News flash! **_**The Reckoning **_**by Kelley Armstrong will now be released early, April 6 as compared to the original date May 10. Also, the first book (**_**The Summoning**_**) can be sampled at http (semicolon slash slash) browseinside (dot) harpercollins (dot) com (slash) index (dot) aspx (question mark) isbn13 (equal sign) 9780061450549 . Take out the spaces and replace the words in parentheses with their symbol. **_**The Darkest Powers Trilogy**_** is one of my favorite young adult series. I could rave and rave about it, but it's best if you read it for yourselves.**

**I wish I could have made this longer, but I really just couldn't. I think I've been writing too much.**


	11. Resonance Medley

**I have two more chapters of **_**Stages of Life**_** done, but I have to type them up. I wrote them and have yet to get them on my computer. So, the third chapter for that should be up sometime by Sunday. Not really sure on that, though. We'll see how things go. **

**While writing this, I had no idea where I was going with it. It just sort of started, I stopped and thought for three or four days, and then it started again. Literally, this could have been posted up yesterday, but I wanted to edit it one final time before doing so.**

**The Masquerade starts in the next chapter. I was going to start it this chapter but when I was reading it, the whole thing felt rushed and cramped together. I try to keep the flow of things going. It's been relatively slow, but within the next three chapters things pick up and it gets exciting.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Eater or any of the characters. They all belong to Atsushi Okubo, who is signed under Square Enix in Japan and Yen Press in North America. The anime is directed by Takuya Igarashi, and produced by Bones, Aniplex, Dentsu, Media Factory, TV Tokyo.**

**Claimer: I do own Café Evans, Maggie, Charles, Viola, Norma, Esther, and whatever random characters seem to appear out of nowhere.**

* * *

**CAFÉ EVANS**

**by infidelityONcrank**

**Chapter 10**

_**Resonance Medley**_

For the fifth time that hour, I wondered _how_ I had gotten into this... mess.

The nice maid had dropped me off at a large room I was to call my own for a while. Soul pointed out that his room was down the hall some and headed off to it. I had found that someone had already brought my luggage up and neatly put my clothes in a large armoire on one side of the room unpacking for me. And then, I was jumped. By Norma.

She had literally sprung up from nowhere and dragged me down to her room, where I was thrown into a dress made of so many ruffles and lace, it could hardly be called a dress, and I was tied to a chair.

Several minutes later, Soul was also dressed in... some sort of clothing and tied to a chair. He looked as happy to be here as I was.

"She got you first, huh." Soul sighed. "That was a fast record."

"What are you talking about?" I hissed. "She _jumped_ me, dressed me in this, and tied me to a freaking chair and you're talking about records! If I could move my hands I'd—"

"Ah, young love." Norma sighed. "One day you're eyeing each other and blushing from a distance, the next your touching and snogging."

"Snogging?" I asked, raising a brow and looking at Soul.

"Making out." he answered.

"I know what snogging is! But..."

"Yeah, I know. I'm as surprised as you are that it's even in her mental dictionary." Soul was able to wriggle out of his bonds as Norma swooned around the room. If this was some sort of cartoon, I'm sure there would be hearts in her eyes.

He loosened the rope around my wrists and tugged me out of the room while Norma was distracted. (She was, apparently, not very good with knots, it was her one weakness while she was in the Girl Scouts.) He carefully closed the door as quietly as he could and we began out escape to a safe spot.

"What are you two doing?" a voice asked, startling us.

We both turned to see Esther standing there, holding a rather large doll of some sort. It was freaky and reminded me of Professor Stein at DCU. All stitched together and a screw through the head. Really. My professor had a giant screw in his head. He cranked it, gears audibly grinding, to help him think more direct and to focus himself. It was kind of disturbing.

"Don't tell Norma." Soul hissed to her. She frowned.

"Why not?" she asked. "Norma will be awfully mad when she realizes her new toy and her favorite toy are gone. She'll come after you, you know."

"Well, she's creepy."

"This whole family is creepy, Soul."

I couldn't agree more...

"...Good point."

And Soul did too.

"I'll stall Norma for you. Just remember, you owe me."

"Thanks, Esther."

The girl nodded and watched as Soul dragged me along down the hall.

The walls reached ridiculously high to the ceiling. There was very limited lighting. This was one time I was glad that Soul knew his way around, as he often quietly told me to be careful of things I couldn't see in the darkness.

I now understood how blind people felt, their other senses to alert and vivid in their waking hours. I could hear a lot better and I could pick up smells I normally wouldn't have. Soul's breathing was deep and quite heavy, but eerily quiet. I could pick up faint traces of the cologne he was wearing. It was probably the latest Axe body spray or something. Just that slight scent made it difficult to breathe.

But the one sense that overpowered my neurons and my ability to think properly, was touch. His hand was large and warm and calloused, something I never really would have guessed from someone who was as lazy as he was. My fingers had been like frozen icicles, mostly from the loss of circulation (which also might explain the tingling sensation in that hand) and his fingers were long and skinny. My hand felt small and annoyingly dainty in his. Although it wasn't necessarily a bad thing. It was... comforting.

I was glad that it was dark. Soul wasn't able to see me blush.

**

* * *

**

Norma had spent the rest of that afternoon looking for us. She eventually gave up when she got bored.

Soul and I managed to evade her by hiding in the library, after we changed into our normal clothes. It was the last place she would ever look for her younger brother. But it was the first place I wanted to be.

I hadn't been to a library much lately. The only time I really had to go was to gather materials for research papers, that I would work on while at the café and to return the things I had borrowed.

Soul didn't seem to show the same enthusiasm as I did when it came to books. He drifted in and out as I spoke to him about some of my favorites that were lined up in the numerous bookshelves.

"Ah, and this one," I said pulling down _Courage is not Given_ by Drayton Mayrant, "is particularly rare. It was published in the early Fifties and then never again after that. It's beautifully written and the first romance novel that I read. The characters were quite easy to identify with and brought up many good points. It's really the main reason why I like pirates so much (1)."

When Soul didn't answer with any sort of noise like he had done the past hour or so, I looked over to him. He was watching me, his head slightly tilted to one side. I felt heat creep up to my head.

"What?" I asked him, self-conscious. Was there something on my face? In my hair?

"You're really passionate about books." he said. "I've only seen one other person that passionate about anything, and that's Maggie with her love of designing clothes."

"Is... is being passionate about something bad?"

"No, it only makes you... cooler. It makes you more believable as a human. It makes you who you are. You and books are like peanut butter and jelly."

"'Peanut butter and jelly'?" I asked, raising a brow.

"...I'm hungry." he said. As if to agree with that statement, his stomach growled.

"I think we should call it quits in the library today and head down to the kitchen to eat something."

Soul nodded in agreement.

* * *

The kitchen staff made us something that would tide us over until dinner. To say the least, I had no idea what it was, but it was good and that was all that mattered.

We ended up talking to the staff while we watched them fix a three course meal that I doubted I could eat a single course. I learned some of their names and a little bit about their families. One girl, Carolynne, had a family as messed up as mine, only it was her mother who was constantly cheating not her father as it was in my family when my parents were still married. I like to think that we bonded somewhat, making Soul uncomfortable.

"What's wrong?" I asked, poking his cheek. His skin dimpled when my finger pushed it in and snapped back into place as I pulled it away.

"Nothing." he said with a bored expression, looking at me through his bangs. It was a rather... attractive pose for him. I felt the heat rise in my face.

"You seem a little, er, uninterested in things."

He shrugged.

"It's not interesting to me is all."

"Oh..."

I looked at the head chef who had been watching us quietly. He immediately went back to work when he saw me look up.

"Is there anything you want to do while we wait for dinner?" I asked Soul, swinging my legs back and forth from the stool I was sitting on. It made me feel like a kid again. I was short enough and so child-like in the face, I could probably have passed off as a fifteen year old girl at that moment.

"Not particularly." he answered.

"So there _is_ something that you want to do, but you don't want to do it because of me?"

"Well... it's... it's complicated, Maka."

"I understand."

"No, you don't."

"How do you know that I don't?" I raised a brow.

"Because, you just wouldn't."

"Try me."

"Fine." he huffed, giving in. "Follow me."

He smoothly slid off the stool he had been sitting on and I hopped off mine with a clap of my flip-flops on the plastic of the floor. He led me down several dark halls for the second time that day and pushed open a door I never would have guessed was even there. Soul closed it when we both entered.

The door opened up to a room set aglow by the orange, yellows, and pinks of the setting sun. There were various instruments that were dust free and ready to be played. I could only guess at how finely tuned they were.

The thing that gathered the most of my attention was the black grand piano on a slight rise above the rest. I knew immediately whose it was and why he had brought me here. He was going to play a song for me.

Neither of us said anything as he walked to the piano, his shoes making slight clicks as he did so. I listened as his clothes shuffled as he sat down and as he shifted on the bench, which creaked quietly but was quite loud in the quiet room. His long, slender fingers that had been holding my hand not three hours ago stretched over the black and white keys with known practice and familiarity.

The first few chords clashed, causing me to wonder if Soul was tone deaf or what, but I soon heard why. Two melodies seemed to go at different speeds but synchronized as the song continued. One was light, bouncy and higher than the other, which was deep and dark with a seriousness that reverberated through each and every note. The two melodies twined together gloriously.

I could only watch, enthralled and dazzled, as he played. But soon I lost sight and coherency and _became_ the sound. The song filled my very being, echoing in my core, my soul. I was taken somewhere I had never been to before. It was a glorious, weightless feeling, like daydreaming but only in sound and not anything else. It was like floating in everything. It was as if the song was a tangible thing that had taken hold of me and seized me. I could only guess as to how stupid I must have looked, gawking at Soul like an idiot while he continued to play.

I hadn't even realized the song was over for what was probably several minutes, from the way Soul was looking at me. I could tell he was waiting for my reaction. I was unsure of what to do. Do I clap? Do I compliment his playing? Do I say that I liked the song?

"That was..." I said, trying to form words in my mouth with a tongue that wasn't cooperating. "I... It was... Soul, it was _beautiful_. I've never heard anything like it before. Did you write it yourself? Oh, please tell me you did. What are going to call it?"

Soul walked over to me, a smug grin on his face. He reminded me of some sadistic Cheshire cat who was too cocky for his own good. He met my eyes, startling me in the light and how dangerously red they looked. He bent down, his lips next to my ear, his breath making me shudder. And he whispered: "Resonance Medley."

* * *

**1. **_**Courage is not Given**_** by Drayton Mayrant is indeed the most difficult book to find by this wonderful author. My grandmother happened to have a copy and she gave it to me to read. I loved it so much that I begged her to let me keep it. It's in my bookshelf right now. If you can find it in your library or if they're selling it, borrow it or buy it while you can. It's amazing and it's extremely hard to find.**

* * *

**Thank you to misa325, music4soul, Alternateapocalypse, Anime-is-mi-life, NKUUchiha, Shadowsammy, riceball793, raikimonducktape99, TsukiLovesSoul, DreadRaven7031, o-Vii-o, BloodyCherryBlossom, Detective Silvs, memorylane19, and Narusaku1357 for adding this to their favorite stories list.**

**Thank you to SoulForAnime, Writer4Life, and Narusaku1357 for adding me to their favorite authors list.**

**Thank you to music4soul, Alternateapocalypse, Anime-is-mi-life, kibaku0nendo, o-Vii-o, EdLovesWritting, memorylane19, Detective Silvs, roxas-for-president, cocoaalove, Narusaku1357, numbuh six-sixtysix, Kozarr, and XxCutieLilNekoxX for adding this to their story alerts. **

**Thank you to Anime-is-mi-life and Writer4Life for adding me to their author alerts.**

**Cuna999: I'm actually planning for Spirit and Charles to meet sometime in the future. It's going to be quite comical.**

**TheNextAliceOwO: Yeah, the last chapter was kind of short.**

**ambrie-chan: Charles is definitely... special.**

**SoulForAnime: I love the crazy Evans family. They make me feel better about my own family. Sort of.**

**mynamebecait09: This chapter was a tad bit longer but not as long as I would have liked it to be. This story keeps you going? With life itself? O.O?**

**vreni: Yes, the family was... jolly, as you put it. I try to write in the limited time that I have but I always manage to get something or another out of thin air.**

**Katsumara: Fluff is so fun. Especially marshmallow fluff... Anyway, my take on the Evans family is interesting. I had to go back, all the way back, into the archives to see how others portrayed them. One person had Soul's mother as an insane blubbering mess of a woman who misses him and says that Wes is dead (despite the fact he's standing right next to her telling her that he's still alive). That was probably the most memorable.**

**Skye The Golden Dragon: Everyone should feel famous at some point in their lives. I'm glad that you like the way I write, it took me years to get where I am today (and I still have room for improvement).**

**Midnight Ghost: Of course Soul has a dad like Maka. I wouldn't have him any other way. Unless he was like Shinigami... Nah. Even Shinigami with his comical voice and acts is still a quite serious character.**

**Anime-is-mi-life: You read stuff on your phone too? Yes! I'm not alone! My phone is my one connection to this website when I'm at school. But please do your homework, it's very important to success in life... after you get a job, start a family, and buy a house. Sorry, that's from a discussion in my Psychology class.**

**Dustbunniehailey: Why, thank you!**

**: Whoo! 100th review!**

**kibaku0nendo: I'm glad you like this story and find it interesting. :)**

**o-Vii-o: Total laugh out loud moment... I've been having a lot of those lately.**

**XxSkyexBluexX: Everybody's family is dysfunctional in their own way. Some are much more... vivid while the show it.**

**ToraHimeSoma: Ah, I love that line. Esther is like the voice of reason, only younger and scarier than she should be. **

**Narusaku1357: I like to think that Soul just kind of ignored her or ruffled her hair or something after she asked that. They seem to have a close relationship. I have been reading **_**Repairing a Broken Soul**_** for a while but whenever I was on I forgot to fav it (until recently). I always managed to catch the updates on my phone.**

**Kisdota-The Freak Gamer: I will usually only read AU if it's recommended to me or if I've read everything else, but lately I've been wanting to read more of it. And it's not because I'm bored.**

**tigerlily1992: Awe, I'm really sorry to say but the poll for the names is closed now. I give you a muffin, though.**

**makaandsoul: :) Yeah...**

* * *

**So, for everyone who reads **_**The Darkest Powers**_** trilogy, we only have a little over a month to wait for the release of the third and final book! (All I need is the twenty-something dollars to actually buy it and find out what happens.) Who will Chloe choose: Simon or Derek? ...I would choose Derek, but, you know, that's me. **

**I'm lucky this week. I don't have to work on any paper, we'll be working on them in class, as the following week we have our Spring Break. The only teacher I have that isn't happy is my Psychology teacher. We seem to always have one week off and then two weeks later, we have another break.**

**I'm going to enjoy my next few hours of free time and be productive. **_**Stages of Life**_** could use and update. I could start working on **_**Out of the Blue**_**...**


	12. One, Two, Buckle My Shoe

**How many people were expecting an update this quickly? I wasn't. I kind of just got this done. Today. I had a dinner break in-between my writing and editing time. That was fun. I had to go back and see what I did before I printed it out to edit it. That took some time, too. But that's mostly because my sister and her best friend were watching **_**Paranormal Activity**_** and screaming a whole lot. I had to go in and make sure one of them wasn't dead. They are dumb enough to scream to death.**

**It's, like, 12:19 in the morning. I'm still on the family computer. That's kind of funny.**

**Oi... I have several papers to type up over my Spring Break and movies to watch. **

**I had my Psychology midterm today. I'm really unsure of how I did on it, most of my answers were guesses. I changed five answers to possible wrong ones, mostly because you're never supposed to second guess yourself. You should always go with your first instinct. Or so I'm told.**

**My dad's back from Mexico, where he was all week. He bought me a shirt that is embroidered... with little people on it. It's cute, in a creepy kind of way. He could have done worse. But he could have done better, too. I mean, he got my sister earrings. Life isn't fair.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Eater or any of the characters. They all belong to Atsushi Okubo, who is signed under Square Enix in Japan and Yen Press in North America. The anime is directed by Takuya Igarashi, and produced by Bones, Aniplex, Dentsu, Media Factory, TV Tokyo. I also don't own **_**Great Expectations**_** (by Charles Dickens), **_**Mulan**_**, **_**Cinderella**_**, or your soul.**

**Claimer: I do own Café Evans, Maggie, Charles, Viola, Norma, Esther, anyone else that you don't recognize, and your body.**

* * *

**CAFÉ EVANS**

**by infidelityONcrank**

**Chapter 11**

_**One, Two, Buckle My Shoe**_

Soul and I hung out in the library, the kitchen, and the music hall when we weren't eating, sleeping, or being kidnapped by Norma (we got away every time when she got into love rant and daze). I introduced him to authors he might like, like Poe. He seemed rather fond of the frayed and yellowing book. We were able to convince the staff to sneak us our meals in the library when they could, as we spent long hours in there. Sometimes we were reading, other times he wanted to go over a rather complicated series of dance steps to make sure I had them down. We both knew I didn't and I never will. This was why we moved to the music hall. We would go over the steps until his toes were numb, not mine (as mine tended to go numb in the heels I wore after twenty minutes) (1).

He never played for me again. I would poke and prod every once and a while, but never too often. So finally, I had enough and asked him flat out about it, much to his annoyance.

"Why won't you play again? For me? Plea~se!" I asked once during our dance practice. "You play beautifully."

"I'm not in the mood to play." he huffed. "It was a one time thing."

"Why?"

"Just... because, alright? Now, come on, you have to get this step down."

And we moved onto a dance I swear I had never learned before. I stubbed my numb toes and stepped on his feet a lot. I don't think I was improving, in fact I think I was getting worse (if that was even possible).

Wes and Maggie arrived a few days after we did. I found out they would be leaving the night after the Masquerade, whereas Soul and I would stay for a day or two after. I was glad my teachers sent out emails every Monday on what we had to do by Saturday. It made things easier for me to know what I had to do and to get my work turned in.

The morning of the Masquerade was hectic, as it had been two days prior. Soul and I were scolded for being too near the ballroom where the big dance (that reminded me more of my senior prom than anything) would take place and were told to stay out of the way until we needed to get ready.

We spent the day in the library, munching on finger sandwiches that were brought up every now and again and sipping water from out water bottles.

"Comfortable enough to perform tonight?" he asked, fingers brushing the spine of the first volume of _Great Expectations_ by Charles Dickens.

"Perform?" I frowned, looking up at him.

"It's what we'll be doing tonight, performing for people who are pretending to be something they're not. The usual high society crap that they pull."

"Ah, I see. You dislike social gatherings and people, which is why you live with your brother and his fiancée and work in his café. Which, in itself, doesn't really make sense."

"...That's a low blow."

I grinned mischievously.

"I know." I sung. He harrumphed and went back to looking at books. I giggled quietly, waiting impatiently for the Masquerade to begin.

**

* * *

**

That hour came for us to get ready and it was not a merciless hour. You know how Mulan in, well, _Mulan_ was being dressed to be a perfect little China doll in "Honor to Us All"? Yeah, it was like that, only Maggie was there and she was a Nightmare on Elm Street. Most painful experience of my nineteen years, and I've been through many painful experiences.

I do have to say, though, I liked the results. I looked older than I normally do. I think, for once in my life, I _looked_ my age. What makeup was caked on was in all natural tones that dramatically enhanced my lips and eyes. My hair was pulled back rather painfully at first, but slowly settled into a comfortable up-do that Maggie styled it as.

I fluttered my Mascarad lashes so they would poke out through the eye shaped holes of the mask. I saw myself in the mirror. I looked _good_.

"There." she hummed adjusting one last strand. "Maka-ella's already for the ball and Prince Charming. Her Fairy Godmother has worked her magic. The glass slippers are on tight and won't be lost at midnight. The carriage is waiting and the ball is beginning. Are you ready to stun everyone?"

"...What's with the _Cinderella_ thing?" I asked her. "I mean, I _kind of_ understand half of what you said, but in the long run was it necessary? I'm not really the Cinderella type, I'm more of the sidekick-best friend." Was there one in _Cinderella_?

"I'm trying to be the creative and gracious Fairy Godmother here."

"In the original _Cinderella_ there was no Fairy Godmother. There was a tree and some birds, in some counties a fish in a pond."

"Fairy Godmothers way better, and stop being smart mouthed. These people— if you can really call them people— shun the intelligent and embrace the stupid."

"I have to disagree. On the Fairy Godmother thing, not the 'embracing the stupid' thing."

"Come on, the carriage is waiting." Maggie huffed, pulling me up from the chair. "Arguing is bad for the vibes and adds unnecessary stress, and, Honey, I don't need to be stressed."

"Carriage? What carriage?" I raised my eyebrows, scrunching my forehead. "The Masquerade is just downstairs. I can _hear_ the music from here— and it's on the other side of this residence!"

Maggie opened the door and shoved me out of the room I'd been stying in while I was here (not cool, Mags, not cool), closing and locking the door shut behind her (that's worse, Mags!). The hallway was brighter than usual and I could deffinately see the man standing in front of me. I leapt back into the door. Oh. God. No.

"P-Papa?" I gasped (2).

The red haired man, whose DNA mixed with my mother's to create me, turned and sobbed. His eyes were filled with tears, as if he was choked up about somthing. (I could give him something to _really_ be choked up about.)

"Muh-Muh-Muh-Muh-Muh-Muh-Maka!" he wailed, flinging himself at me with a hug. I squirmed, trying to get out of the embrace. "You look just like Mama!"

I raised my fist and bonked him on the head. He callapsed onto the ground, nursing the soon-to-be bruise. I hoped he got a concusion from that blow, he deserved it after years of cheating on Mama and then leaving me alone at night to tuck myself in. (Especially when there was a thunderstorm, though I don't think he would have been much help, seeing as how he was just as terrified of them as I was.)

"Get up." I scoffed. "It wasn't that hard."

Okay, total lie but necessary.

He stood up and offered me his arm, still tending to the top of his head. I took his offered arm and smiled. He at least _tried_ to be a good parent. Mama, though I loved her and agreed with her on the divorce, was never really around and never kept in contact with me. Just a birthday or Christmas card with a picture, a note, and a small gift every year.

"So, who invited you?" I asked him.

"Your friend, Soul." Papa answered. I looked up at him, blinking in confusion. Soul invited my Papa? Without asking? The nerve of some people! I felt a vein bulge on my neck. "Ah, don't be too mad, Maka love. I kind of hinted that I wanted to come and see how beautiful you looked, just like Mama."

"You're doing it again." I warned. He stopped blubbering and straightened himself out.

The music was getting louder. I could easily define it was swing or ragtime or maybe even jazz. It was catchy.

I smiled wider, knowing I was going to enjoy myself tonight.

* * *

"You know," I said to Soul, holding out my chapaigne flute to one of the servers who refilled it (why they were giving minors alcohol, I have no idea), "it's rude to invites a person's father and not tell them."

"It's also rude not to look at a person when speaking to them."

"Says the one not looking."

"What are you implying?" he snapped.

"I'm not implying anything, I'm pointing out a fact."

"Fact my ass."

"Language." I tutted.

"Seriously, are you two going to tell me when you're getting married or not?" Esther asked, sneaking up behind us. We jumped ta her voice. Her hair had been pulled back behind her ears with a green headband and her dress fell above her knees, her petticoat peeking out underneath.

"Go away, Esther." Soul huffed. "You're bothing us."

"Oh, I don't mind her being around." I said, pulling the silver haired girl into a sisterly embrace.

"You didn't deny that you weren't going to marry each other." she said with a small smirk that one would have missed had you not been watching her. I felt my head heat up. Soul mirrored me. "Miss. Maka, I want to dance. Will you be my partner?"

"Sure." I chirped, handing Soul my flute and heading out to the dance floor.

Dancing with the youngest Evans child was like dancing with a top, you just kep spinning around and around and around and around... I was grateful when Soul stepped in and saved me, leading me into a slow Fox-Trot. He eased up on the spins, knwoing how nauscious I felt. Apparently spinning in circles was her _only_ dance move, from what Soul told me.

"You passed Esther's test." he said quietly as I waited for the world to stop rocking like I was on a boat. Was I on a boat? No, I was quite sure that I was on dry land. I could see the outline of the trees against the city lights in the distance.

"Huh?" I garbled, slightly intoxicated from the champaigne and drunk from the scent of his body spray. It was addicting. It should be _illegal_ to wear that; that is how addicting it was.

"Esther only asks people she likes to dance with her. The only person she has asked to dance with her was a boy a few years ago. She only tolerates me because I'm her older brother."

"She hasn't danced with Wes or your father."

"Wes is a maybe and father... It's an interesting story."

"What about Norma?"

"...Who would voluntarily dance with Norma?"

I stifled a giggle, feeling things slowly even out and regaining my proper balance.

"What about your mother?" I asked him.

"What about her?"

"Does Esther ever dance with her?"

"Mother says it's too childish to dance with little girls older than five. It's cute when she younger or with a sibling or a boy her age or her father, but to dance with her mother? Unthinkable."

"Oh..."

"Yeah..."

The song ended and everyone stopped dancing immediately, clapping— whether because it was the end of that song or the start of a new one, I don't know. Soul and I walked off the dance floor with some other couples and watched as people began the next dance. Esther had found a new partner, a red headed boy who seemed rather pleased with himself... until they started to dance. She was more wild with that boy than she was with me. I felt sorry for the poor soul. Oh well, he was still young and he should heal fast.

"Well, Miss. Albarn, enjoying your time?" Viola asked as she approached us. Soul walked away, muttering something about getting us something to drink, having lost our champaigne flutes when he went to retrieve me from Esther's clutches.

"Yes, very much so." I said nodding.

"Good, good. Now, there's someone here who has been wanting to see you since I talked to him. He was quite surprised to hear that my Soul had a date for the Masquerade." Date? That was news to me. I thought I was his guest. Who knew? "Anyway, he wanted to say 'hello.' He feels as though he needs to approve of you, seeing as how he's known the Quartet since they were babes swaddled in their baby blankets."

"Quartet?"

"It's my petname for Wes, Soul, Norma, and Esther."

"I see." I kind of figured that, I mean I know no other group of people around here that could be called a quartet.

She led me to a table. I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw who it was.

What was _he_ doing _here_?

* * *

**1. Anyone who has ever done theatre or dance in character shoes knows what I mean by this. It's painful at first, but then you ignore it. By the time you take off the darn shoes, your toes are as cold and susceptible to pain as ice cubes.**

**2. I was going to end here, but I decided against it. Yay me!**

* * *

**Ooo... Cliff hanger. Who could it be? (Do I really need to ask that question? I think we all know who it is.) So, yeah...**

**I went to go rent **_**Princess Mononoke**_** or **_**Ponyo**_** at Hollywood Video, and it turns out that they don't have the former and the latter is unavailable at the current time. Also, the one closest to my house (and the one that my cousin works at) is going to close. I **_**know**_** it's not because they don't a whole lot of people coming in to rent movie, they get a crap load everyday. So unless all of them are closing, then it's pretty much bull.**

**I've had enough excitement for one day. So, I leave with this (before going on to thank and chat with people), support This is Between Me and the Bear. They're a screamo band that live down the street from me. I went to school with all of the band members since kindergarten. Google them. They actually pop up in the little dropdown box. That's pretty gnarly in my book!**

* * *

**Thank you to spawnspectre, waterblossemangel13, and Nyaw for adding me to their author alerts.**

**Thank you to spawnspectre, Jrz8kiwi, Soul Luvs Me, waterblossemangel13, and Nyaw for adding me to their favorite authors list.**

**Thank you to spawnspectre, brunettebookworm14, Soul Luvs Me, Jrz8kiwi, waterblossem13, epic bunneh-sama, hanikamu, bin1993, Shadowclaw78, Trashmonster, khfanaticXD, TheWolfPerson, and Nyaw for adding this to their favorite stories list.**

**Thank you to spawnspectre, Soul Luvs Me, Jrz8kiwi, waterblossemangel13, epic bunneh-sama, The Harlequin Mask, poolday, purpleeyednekoyoukai, hanikamu, Trashmonster, PPGBlossom, brunettebookworm14, and Nyaw for adding this to their story alerts.**

**o-Vii-o: I'm really happy that you're enjoying this story. It fills me with bubbly happiness to know that you and many others enjoy this.**

**mynamebecait09: I will continue to write! ...Until I run out of ideas to write (but the likelihood of that happening is quite slim).**

**XxSkyexBluexX: Did the next update come fast or what?**

**Kisdota- The Freak Gamer: Ah, young love... or you developing love, is more like it. I really couldn't think of a better response from Maka other than her bugging him. Sorry about that. **

**ambrie-chan: Ah, Norma. She is my most interesting creation... That sentence probably explains everything about her. Yeah, I'm glad the editing worked well. It **_**flowed**_** like a **_**river **_**of **_**love**_**... or something.**

**spawnspectre: I love Disturbed. I haven't listened to them in a while, though. My friend and I used to head bang to them and then some pop band I can't remember the name of. I don't know why we were head banging to the pop band. We were in high school. We all do stupid things then.**

**Narusaku1357: I've had a collegic vocabulary since I was a freshman in high school. It just comes from reading a whole lot and talking to band geeks most of my life.**

**brunettebookworm14: Thank you. I try my hardest to keep everyone in character, though I know I stray at times but this is an AU...**

**SoulForAnime: Yeah, Norma is a special case. I think I did the same thing to my sister once. But that was a **_**long**_** time ago, like two months ago.**

**vreni: I wish I could hear the song too. For some reason I think it's a mix between "Philosopher Stone" from the Fullmetal Alchemist OST 1, "Fate" from the Drag-on Dragoon 2 OST, and "Comptine d'un autre été: L'après-midi" composed by Yann Tiersen. It's really a strange mix.**

**Katsumara: I hope they can, too. But it may be a while, knowing them.**

**waterblossemangel13: Yeah... I forgot to mention Wes last chapter, didn't I? You reminded me to do that. (glomps) Thank yous!**

**Midnight Ghost: **_**Courage is Not Given **_**(I'm doing this on memory, it's been a while since I read it last) is about a little French girl, Fueille Joany, whose father dies and she is suspected of killing him. She flees France and lives in the London slums for sometime before taking a ship to the New World. On the way there, the ship is captured by pirates. The crew is killed but the passengers are brought safely to the U.S. She ends up on a plantation in South Carlina where she falls in love and must struggle to keep this love from falling for an older woman. It's a real treat to read.**

**Cuna999: We get to see how the Spirit and Charles will interact with each other in the next chapter. I was going to do it this chapter, but decided against it. You're giving me ideas about the chef being a spy. ;)**

**dustbunnyhailey: Here's the next chapter!**

**ToraHimeSama: Wait until she **_**really**_** gets into Soul... That came out wrong.**

**LooksknOweVenhEy143 LOVE: As I said to vreni, the song kind of sounds (to me) like a mix of "Philosopher Stone" from the Fullmetal Alchemist OST 1, "Fate" from the Drag-on Dragoon 2 OST, and "Comptine d'un autre été: L'après-midi" composed by Yann Tiersen. I normally sit and listen to composers of the past if I want to be drawn away from this world and into the music. I used to sit in a dark room with my mp3 player and my headphones on, and just close my eyes and listen. It was more of a meditative exercise but I fell into the music. You should try it and see if it works for you.**

**Imouto-Chan13: I'm so overjoyed that you love it! ...I can't find any other words to say because of that. ^.^'**

**Trashmonster: Join the bandwagon! (I just started reading what I wrote. Half the time I'm like: Did I write that? Huh...)**

**Nyaw: Poor phonebook. I really hope it wasn't hurt. **

**I would really like to apologize to anyone with periods in their username. My computer and FanFiction disagree with one another when it comes to that. Names get erased and one word is all that remains. It's frustrating for me because the only thing I can really do is keep the periods out. I've complained (on multiple occasions) about this to the admins here but it's really a conflict with my computer's programming and uploading files onto FanFiction. Again, I am very sorry to anyone with periods in their username.**


	13. Three, Four, Shut the Door

**Dear God, another update? It's been less than a week and I already have the next chapter for this done... I really need to find that notebook I wrote chapter 4 for **_**Stages of Life**_** in. It's in my room somewhere.... (looks at floor) But hopes of finding it today are slim. Very slim. Well, I am on Spring Break. I'll try to get it up soon.**

**So, while I've been under the attack of plot bunnies, I managed to write this. Turns out my friends are a cesspool of ideas waiting to be written. I'm not really sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing. -.-'**

**By the way, it turns out that I'm not only allergic to some dust but also dogs. Looks like I might have to stick to cats... or goldfish.**

**Oh, before I forget. The Spirit/Charles interaction was kind of placed in last minute. It's not awkwardly placed, but it's short. I thought it was kind of funny, but I leave you to decide if it is or isn't.**

* * *

**Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Eater or any of the characters. They all belong to Atsushi Okubo, who is signed under Square Enix in Japan and Yen Press in North America. The anime is directed by Takuya Igarashi, and produced by Bones, Aniplex, Dentsu, Media Factory, TV Tokyo. **

**Claimer: I do own Café Evans, Maggie, Charles, Viola, Norma, Esther, and anyone else that you don't recognize.**

**CAFÉ EVANS**

**by infidelityONcrank**

**Chapter 12**

_**Three, Four, Shut the Door**_

I tried not to grit my teeth too loudly as I forced out, "What a pleasant surprise! I wasn't expecting to see you here."

The grinning, red manic I call Oni-chan sat there with furrowed brows. Apparently hr hadn't been expecting that response from me, He straightened up and said, nonchalantly, "Miss. Albarn, it is always a treat to see you. Things are going well at the café, yes?"

"Leighton, Maka dear (1)," Viola said, "how did you two come to know each other? I _know_ for a fact Soul didn't introduce you."

"I actually happened to be visiting at the café to check on the boys, naturally."

"Naturally."

"And Miss. Albarn happened to be working there that night. We later bumped into each other as she was leaving DCU."

Leighton wasn't telling the full story. I mean, the freak practically _kidnapped_ me by scaring me into his vehicle and then trying to force me into having a conversation with him. He wasn't the nicest guy I knew, but Viola Evans seemed to trust him.

The two of them chatted rather quickly on our meeting, before Viola excused herself to go tend to other guests, leaving us alone in a sea of people I didn't know.

"Miss. Albarn, have you thought about it?" he asked, his grin growing wide.

"Thought about what?" I asked.

"Why Soul is so fond of you, of course."

"I have no idea what you mean."

"On the contrary, you do. First, he invited you to the masquerade. Second, he played a song for you. Oh yes, I know about that. They whole staff does, actually. And third, he's watching you right now despite the fact he has several young women swarming him and he's not even flinching. He's mostly watching to see what _I'll_ do and to rush into save you in case something does happen. A knight in shining armor is you ask me."

I laughed. A single 'HA!' that caused people to look over and see what was so funny. They all looked away, disinterested in the scene.

"Okay, for starters, Soul technically didn't invite me. Wes made a comment because Soul was too much of a coward and I bullied him into taking me. He didn't want to attend this thing with someone who'll only drool all over him all night. Next, he's played for a lot of people before. It's not big deal that he played for me once. He's done it many times before. And lastly, he doesn't trust you. At all. He's making sure you do something stupid so he can hold it over your head for the rest of your life." I turned and started walking away but stopped. "And another thing! Knight in shining armor? This damsel can fight her own dragons, thank you very much."

I started towards Soul and saw that he was indeed surrounded by a flock of three girls.

"Are you sure that's why he did all of those things?" Leighton asked. I froze. He hadn't spoken very loudly, but his voice was quite distinct against everyone else's. "Are you sure there's nothing deeper?"

I turned back around, frowning (not that I'd been exactly smiling the whole time).

"What do you mean?" I asked, talking hesitant steps back to him.

"Miss. Albarn, you forget I have know the Evans children since they were babes in blankets and diapers." Oni-chan said. "Soul has never been so... _possessive_ of anyone before. He is unusually protective of you. Do you know why that is?"

I shook my head. I didn't. His grin widened further.

"I do." he said. "Do you want to know?"

I nodded. Who wouldn't?

"Soul, is a very difficult person to read, but when you know him as well as I do, you come to see things about him that no one else would. He protects and obsesses over your safety for very clear reasons to an outsider looking into your relationship with each other. You see, Miss. Albarn, Soul—"

"Oh, what a lovely dress!" a voice crackled, causing both of us to jump out of our skins. An elderly woman hobbled over and studied the gown I was wearing. "The Magster was right, it would go along with what the Soulster is dressed in. Come with me dear, I want you to meet the Soulster. He's my grandson, you know. He's around your age, I believe. Quite the lady charmer!"

I gaped like a goldfish at her as she pulled me away. She resembled someone I knew. Actually, it was more like someone's I knew.

"What's your name, darling?" she asked.

"Maka Albarn." I said, quite unsure. She nodded.

"As I was saying, I have a grandson around your age, Makster. I think you'll be fond of each other. he's never really been fond of any young woman before but there's something different about you, something I like.

"You're quite easy to talk to, Makster. My grandson is easy to talk to, too. Ah, he'll adore those eyes. They're a rather pretty shade. Never seen anyone but one woman with eyes like those before and Leighton's frightened of her.

"I don't really know why Viola even allows him near the children. He's a horrible beast, that Leighton Daemon. He's always babbling nonsense about something or other, mostly about ruining Wester and Soulster. Ha! As if the fool could do that."

She lead me over to Soul and the trio of girls who were trying to get his attention. They held very little of it, though. He seemed less worried now that I was away from that freak called Leighton (Oni-chan in my mind). He seemed to like the older woman.

"Soulster!" the woman called out, despite the fact we were less than three feet away. She startled the girls around him, who squealed in surprise and backed away. "I found someone I want you to meet. Maka, this is my grandson Soul. Soul, this is Maka. I saved her from Ol' Ugly Face."

Soul and I both wanted to tell her we already knew one another, but she seemed happy that she was setting us up.

"Victoria, Rosemary, Beatrice, I need you three to come with me." Soul's grandmother pulled the three rabid fan-girls.

"I see you've met Granny." Soul said when they were out of earshot.

"She's... nice." I said, trying to think of an appropriate word to describe the talkative old woman.

"Barely takes a breath in a conversation. She's really the kind of grandma anyone would want."

"She seems like it."

We were quiet. I looked out to the dance floor and saw that Esther still had her partner. Either he thought she was cute and worth the effort or she hasn't let him yet.

"So, what did he want to talk about?" Soul asked, breaking the silence.

"Same as the last time." I said with a shrug.

"He won't give up."

"Nope."

Silence again. It was rather awkward.

I looked over to where my Papa was. He and Charles were tipsy and laughing at something or another. And then they began singing drinking songs.

"Maka!" Papa cried. "You have to try this. It's fantabulastic!"

I hid behind Soul, chanting, "I don't know him. I don't know him. I don't know him."

The song ended and people clapped. An announcement was made that dinner would be served as soon as everyone took their seats.

Soul and I made our way to the head table that was on a small platform and faced out over everyone.

Our seats had little name cards on the plates. I sat in between Soul and Esther. Soul sat rather stiffly next to his mother, who was busy scolding her husband quietly. Wes and Maggie, and Norma and her date (I never got if he was her husband or her fiancé or boyfriend) sat dutifully next to each other, sharing pleasantries.

Everyone took off their masks that had been hiding their faces so that they could eat without worrying whether or not they had ruined their masks.

"Maka?" Esther asked. "Can you save one more dance for me? I have to go to bed in two hours."

"Alright." I said as the first course was brought out. I had a feeling that I was going to regret it later but she was just too adorable.

The first course was soup. Cream of potato, actually. There was some time in between in which Esther told Soul and I about the boy she had been dancing with. She apparently had decided that he was going to propose to her when she graduated high school and then they were going to marry after she finished college. She was going to have their first child when she was twenty-three, she would have two more when she was twenty-seven. Her first child was going to be a boy and the next two were going to be twin girls.

"She likes to have things planned out." Soul muttered as we began the second course, the fish course. I wasn't big on salmon but I picked and chewed it until the third course arrived.

The main course was some chicken, scalloped potatoes, rice, and asparagus. Or, at least, that's what I ate.

Esther explained several of her favorite games. I only recognized Mafia, Apples to Apples, Have You Ever?, and Monopoly (2).

"I once played Monopoly with this one girl, she's a jerk by the way, and she kept trying to cheat." the girl said between bites. "So, me and Ally, my best friend— she's not here, she's at some camping thing with her parents— we, uh, we took some shaving cream while this girl was asleep and put it all over her face."

"That was my shaving cream, by the way." Soul commented. "They pulled the same prank on me that same night."

"Yeah, but that's because you were being mean to me and Ally."

I always kind of wished I had a sibling to pull a prank or two on. And then I thought of the revenge they would get for that one prank...

"I was not." Soul grumbled.

Esther stuck her tongue out at him. She seemed to get more childish around me. Soul had told me that would happen. It meant she was quite comfortable around me to be herself.

Soul provoked her by sticking out his tongue. Esther made a face by tugging on the ends of her eyes, sticking out her tongue, and crossing her eyes.

"Stop that." Viola scolded, swatting at Esther but missing because of the distance between them.

Is wasn't long after that, that the fourth course was severed. The salad course was quite simple but there were rather exotic fruits mixed in with the green leaves. The oranges were Mandarins but the strange purplish-red things I asked Soul about.

"Hibiscus." he said, adding a forkful of the salad to his mouth. "Tastes like a Fruit Roll-Up (3)."

I nibbled on a piece and found that I liked it. Esther giggled at the action. I turned to glare playfully at her and saw as she stuffed a whole hibiscus flower into her mouth.

"Big mouth." I heard Soul tease.

The two began to pick on one another, me sitting in the middle snigging. I saw Viola look over several times, wondering if she should stop them before someone (namely me) got hurt.

Desert followed. It was the most mouthwatering tiramisu I've ever had. I had to blink several times after the first bite to see if I was in heaven or not. Soul and Esther laughed at my reaction. Viola sent us warning glances, quieting the two.

I was happy and stuffed when the last course (which was really quite useless by now) came around. The large variety of cheeses were tempting, but I only sampled a few. I found that I liked the cheese with nut chunks and the creamier cheese that had to be spread on a slice of bread.

The meal, all six courses total, had taken a little over an hour to complete. Once people had rested and digested their food, they headed back onto the dance floor when the band started playing again (4).

Esther pulled me back out, but this time she wasn't into the whole spinning idea. She actually danced. She didn't dance with me long, as she found her future husband and moved on to him instead.

I found Soul leaning against the wall, watching everyone. His hands were in his pants pockets and he was kind of hunched over.

I followed his gaze to Leighton and frowned. Leighton was watching me with those devilish eyes.

"Aren't you getting tired of playing babysitter to him?" I asked, leaning on the spot of wall next to him. He was less than half and arm's length away.

"Yeah." he sighed, pushing off the wall with his back. "Want to dance?"

I shrugged and followed him back out to the dance floor. I didn't really pay attention to what kind of dance it was, tired from the food and the now later hours, but I simply followed the way I was manuvered.

The song ended and we clapped. Another one started up and Soul and I walked off. Esther found us, after bidding a sweet farewell to the boy.

"Can you two take me upstairs to go to bed?" she asked. "I don't like going alone when there are so many people here."

"Why not." Soul huffed.

We walked out of the ballroom and started to head to the other end of the building. It was a fair distance, at least half of a mile (0.804672 kilometers). We got halway down the hall before we had to turn right when the doors leading into the ballroom closed with a loud _**bang!**_

We turned around and quickly ran to the corner to hide. Oni-chan's henchmen had slammed the doors closed and were holding some rather large guns, guarding the entrance.

Soul cursed.

"Don't swear." Esther hissed, slapping his thigh.

"That bastard planned this." Soul whispered to us. "I knew he was going to do something, but something this big? All for that freaking café!"

Wait, back up. He was holding a bunch of rich people hostage in order to get the café? What kind of nut were we dealing with?

* * *

**1. Leighton was the male name that came in second for the votes. XD Originally, I was just going to name him Lyle, but I thought I better put to use the other names I had people vote for. (Actually, if Leighton had come in first, his name would be Lyle.)**

**2. I love all four of those. Mafia and Have You Ever? are great party games. Apples to Apples is fun with a lot of people but I would suggest not playing with any more than seven or eight friends or family members. It gets too complicated and there are too many choices after that. Monopoly is the most **_**boring**_** game I've ever played. Unless you play with my cousin. We had one game start on January first and going to January fifth. We played all of those days.**

**3. Hibiscus flowers are actually really good and they do sort of taste like Fruit Roll-Ups. But they're more like Joray Fruit Rolls, if I remember correctly. I don't really remember, it's been too long since I've had any. I just remember that it tastes like some kind of fruit leather.**

**4. This is based on the six course meal I found on Wikipedia. Each course is rather elaborate and benefits for health this way.**

* * *

**I love Soul's Granny. She's so... indescribable. She's the coolest grandma ever. I could almost picture her snowboarding. Sorry, I was watching **_**Hoodwinked!**_** with my cousins and my sister not too long before I started writing this. Twitchy is still our favorite character.**

**I've been listening to Ingrid Michaelson the whole time I was writing this. Interesting background music and stuff to sing to. "You and I" got stuck in my head. Love the song. Especially the bunny thing. I 'lol'ed at that. What's sad is I had to download most the songs off the internet since my disk drive won't open. I wonder if we can buy a disk drive that can be connected via USB cord. Probably not. Someone want to invent it for me?**

**Between the music and the washing machine running, I'm kind of tired. I've always felt sleepy when the washer was running. I think the smell of the detergent or something is what gets me.**

**I didn't really edit this chapter too well (mostly because of the above paragraph), so this is far from how it would have turned out if I actually had decided to really look it over. Forgive my laziness.**

**Also, forgive me for not getting back to people who've reviewed for my one-shots. I'll try to get back to all of you before the end of the month.**

* * *

**Thank you to TamaShi14, Murdering Star, XXThistlexFlowerXX, Chaiyo, JackedUp, and Writer4Liefef for adding this to their favorite stories list.**

**Thank you to TamaShi14, Imouto-Chan13, XXThistlexFlowerXX, kazukarin, and SilverStella for adding to their story alerts.**

**xwannflyx: Well, most of my ideas for all of my writing are kept in a notebook. This story, however, was pretty much formed while watching my cousin play video games. **

**Anime-is-mi-life: If this story is a web, does that make me a spider?**

**waterblossemangel13: Esther is so cute! I love her so much. And you were right with it being the Little Demon (a.k.a. Oni-chan, a.k.a. Leighton Daemon).**

**vreni: Ah, yes. The sacrifices our feet make. My are so calloused and worn from theatre and marching band that I could literally take a flame to it and it won't burn. Or at least, I wouldn't feel it.**

**Katsumara: After you heard a song so beautiful and enthralling, wouldn't you beg to hear another piece? I would.**

**brunettebookworm14: Oh my gosh! I like that song! Huh... Now I have to go listen to it.**

**Midnight Ghost: I probably would have been mad too. I was actually mad at myself for even thinking about it.**

**Imouto-Chan13: You can see it in your mind? That's great!**

**Kisdota-The Freak Gamer: Maka wouldn't be Maka if she didn't show some sort of dislike towards her womanizing father. I haven't played any Final Fantasy games after X-2. But that's mostly because I haven't bought any. Huh, maybe I should ask for one for Christmas...**

**Lady Zayriah: I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter.**

**mynamebecait09: I really hadn't done a clearly defined cliff hanger in a while. My mom and I actually talked about getting Netflix, mostly because they have a larger selection of movies that I need to watch for my Film Study class.**

**Cuna999: Sorry, that I couldn't make their interaction longer. But they get along and are now drinking buddies.**

**SoulForAnime: Oh, goodness! The Evans family is like yours? Eh, who am I to really say anything. My family isn't the sanest in the mental hospital of life.**

**Kiku18: Ah, my author's notes... They make me laugh when I read over them. I say a lot of strange stuff.**

**Narusaku1357: They danced again in this chapter. XD**

**JackedUp: What kind of country, indeed?**

**ToraHimeSama: He is... Little Demon (a.k.a. Oni-chan, a.k.a. Leighton Daemon)!**

**kazukarin: Yeah, as a reader, I hate it when you really get into a story and then you find out it stopped there. As a writer, I laugh. It's one of the few times I actually am the puppeteer.**

**Starfiredoodle: I'm really sorry that you missed the chance to vote, but here's a basket of muffins of your favorite kind. Grammatical errors are always a part of learning, though. Would the thought bubbles be easier to distinguish if I put them in italics? Hm, I'll definitely think about it. I am very happy that you are enjoying this fic.**


	14. AN: Important

**To my dear and beloved readers,**

**I would like to thank all of you for your time and your patience for putting up with me for so long. I cherish each and everyone of you because you're, well, awesome. All of you are.**

**I would now like to ask you to put away any sharp or any object that could cause harm to anyone in the room (including yourself)., as I now have unsettling news to tell you.**

**I am afraid that I cannot continue with **_**CAFÉ EVANS**_**, despite the fact I love it and have worked so hard on it. My life has become so busy and chaotic that I cannot go on writing this. I simply do not have the time to write anymore. (My journal on my dA account has more information. Really, you will want to read the journal I posted today. Link, remove the spaces: http :// infidelityoncrank . deviantart . com / journal /)**

**I do apologize and again I thank you for your time.**

**Sincerely,  
****infidelitONcrank**


	15. Five, Six, Pick Up Sticks

**Wow, some of you took me seriously? Silly billy goats, it was April Fools, the Day of Tricks and Pranks! I wanted to do something that would scare a lot of people. Apparently it worked. Lawl. I could never really abandon this, I love it too much. It's like my baby.**

**It's not as funny as the time my aunts and their daughter saran wrapped my dad's van. I wish I could find those pictures. None of them have anything on FaceBook. Hm...**

**Anyway, I'm in a good mood (what with finding out that Cartoon Network bought the rights to **_**Danny Phantom**_** and there's going to be a continuation of the TV show). I don't have school today and I did my laundry. Whoo!**

**My sister has spring break next week, so we'll be fighting over use of the computer. So, I'll probably end up writing a bunch on one-shots and reading peoples stories on my cell phone (and just being a lurker because that's what I do, I lurk).**

**I finally got my ACen ticket (yesterday). So, if you're going to be at Anime Central this year, let me know. Sunday (or maybe Friday, I'll be late by a little more than two hours) because I have my last final, I'll hopefully be wearing a shirt I made with my username.**

**That's also around the time I'll be posting **_**Out of the Blue**_**. I've been working on that quite a bit, which is why I haven't been doing much as of late. Forgive me for that.**

**By the way, everybody say "Happy Birthday" to Hans Christian Anderson. If he was alive today, he would be two hundred and five years old!**

**AND, before I forget, I would like to admit that I'm a lurker. I read stories but I never review. Sometimes I'll review, but that's if I have something to really say, I'm bored, or just because I felt like it.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Eater or any of the characters. They all belong to Atsushi Okubo, who is signed under Square Enix in Japan and Yen Press in North America. The anime is directed by Takuya Igarashi, and produced by Bones, Aniplex, Dentsu, Media Factory, TV Tokyo. **

**Claimer: I do own Café Evans, Maggie, Charles, Viola, Norma, Esther, and anyone else that you don't recognize.**

* * *

**CAFÉ EVANS**

**by infidelityONcrank**

**Chapter 13**

_**Five, Six, Pick Up Sticks**_

I wasn't quite sure why we were still hiding behind to corner. The guys positioned in front of the ballroom doors knew we were there and hadn't moved to retrieve them. They just stood there, watching and waiting to see what the trio would do.

"We need backup." Soul mumbled to himself as he paced the floor, his eyes closed. He was starting to make me nauseous.

"All of our backup is back at the café." I said, leaning back on the wall. I tilted my head back and looked up towards the ceiling. "They're hours away. No one's going to be able to get here within an hour. Not to mention how long it'd take us to make a plan."

"Not necessarily." Esther said. She was standing off to the side, head cocked in one direction.

"What are you getting at, Esther?" Soul asked.

"Follow me." she hummed, leading us away from the ballroom.

Soul and I looked at each other and decided that it was best to follow. We were lead down several halls and around corners. And we did this in blinding darkness, until we reached an area that was lit by candles.

Esther stopped in front of a hall closet that almost blended into the wall. She took out a key that had been tucked away in the front of her dress and unlocked the door. She stepped out of the way to allow four gagged and bound bodies to land in a groaning heap on the floor.

Oh. My. God. Esther hid half dead bodies in a closest?!

Soul ducked behind me as I tried to hide behind him, both of us just as startled and surprised as the other. It didn't end very well. I ended up with my face in the fabric of his button up shirt and my legs entwined with his. I also wasn't sure whose arm was trapped between my chest and his stomach. Both of our faces ended up being a tomato's envy.

"You two just going to lie there all night or what?" Esther asked, untying one of the bodies.

"Hey!" one of the bodies cried, wriggling around, gag off the mouth from the constant movement on the others. Esther kicked the body over to me and Soul. I clambered off Soul and away. It was then that I recognized the vibrant blue of the star-shaped hair. "What's the big idea? Locking us up with no good reason? If my hands weren't tied, I wring them around your neck, you little—"

"Black Star, stop trying to insult my sister." Soul huffed, standing up and dusting himself off. "We can easily lock you back up in the closet. I know how claustrophobic you get. I also know how much you dislike spiders."

Black Star shot him a rather dirty glance before grumbling to himself about how rich people made bad friends.

The other three were quickly unbound and un-gagged by Esther. I really didn't want to know why they were in the closet and how they got here to begin with. Although, I had the feeling it was a rather interesting story on Esther's part.

"Nyah~hahahahahahaha!" Patti chortled, rolling on the floor. "That was fun! Can we do it again?"

"Get up." Liz sighed, checking herself quickly in her compact mirror before looking at the last person.

I rolled my eyes and Kid moaned how he had been tied up asymmetrically (although he used "unsymmetrically" instead of asymmetrically). It was a rather typical Kid moment.

"You can worry about that later." Esther said, glaring at Kid slightly. "Right now we have a problem."

All four of them seemed to sober up from their previous states, ready to see what we had to say.

"The Little Creep kidnapped the whole ballroom." Soul quickly summed up. "We're not sure what he wants, but I think he wants us to exchange everyone for the café."

"Dude, when you said that guy was psycho, I didn't think you meant _this_ psycho." Black Star said. "He's, like, Hannibal but on a creepier level."

"You wouldn't have even watched that movie if I hadn't told you about it." Patti huffed, cheeks puffed out and flushed slightly from anger. She was kind of adorable in her own special way.

"I know, but seriously, I mean it. I mean, I think it's worse than the time that the Martians kidnapped Santa Claus and that one dude tried to kill him and then kidnap those two Earth kids. Dude, that was a freaky true story, yo (1)."

"...Black Star, that was _Santa Claus Conquers the Martians_. It was never a true story." I said, crossing my arms. He wasn't normally all that bad, but it was moments like these that I really doubted he was a form of intelligent life. What does Tsubaki see in him?

"Huh, could have sworn they said it was a true story." There was an almost audible groan from the rest of us. Was he really that stupid? "Maybe I was thinking about _Free Willy _(2)."

Okay, he was that stupid. Half of the time.

"Black Star, shut up." Soul sighed, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "Anyway, we need a plan. We have got to get those people out of there."

Soul was gallant? Who knew.

"Right." Esther huffed, straightening her dress. "Kid, Liz, Patti, you three will go with Soul to distract the guards while Black Star, Maka, and I will sneak into one of the vents. While we make our way to the ballroom's kitchen, you four will try to take out all of the guards. Once we're in, we'll open one of the doors for you to get in. From there, we'll try and take down Leighton."

"That actually sounds like a good plan." Liz said slowly, mulling it over.

"Thank you, I took Advanced Statistics and Strategies in school."

"Dude, that's not right." Black Star said. "A freaking seven year old is smarter than I am, and I'm so awesome I'm better than a god."

"I'm eleven, not seven."

* * *

**1. That was pretty much my sister's reaction to the movie. She thought it was a true story and started to freak out because she believes in aliens (like I believe in ghosts). I really just had to put that in here... What's worse than aliens and zombies? Alien zombies! ...O.O I won't be able to sleep tonight... And what's worse than alien zombies? Unicorn zombies! ...Too much **_**Charlie the Unicorn**_** for one afternoon. And too many "..." -.-'**

**2. **_**Free **_**Willy is a film that came out in 1993. It was about this kid and an Orcas whale. That's all I remember. Dear Lord above, if I see another commercial for that new **_**Free Willy**_** film, I'm probably going to end up shooting somebody! (Not really.) Somehow this reminds me, I still need to see **_**Ponyo**_**...**

* * *

**So, my cousin and I were watching **_**Soul Eater**_** two nights ago (English Dub). The first time Black Star appeared I nearly fell off the bed laughing. I love Brittney Karbowski. She did Al in **_**Full Metal Alchemist**_** (chapter 104 had one of those "No! No! Not possible! She can't— That's not supposed to happen!" moments for me). I was kind of wary about watching the English Dub because the translation of the script that the voice actors are given are sometimes completely off from what was originally done. **

**You can also blame that night for this chapter's shortness. The next chapter will make up for that, though. It's going to be **_**long**_**. Or as long as I can make it without keeling over. Really, it will be. I have so much planned! Gah! I should probably start working on it.**

**I've been thinking about being a camp counselor. Then I decided it wasn't for me. I can barely handle a day alone with a four year old girl. And her dog (who's so soft and cute, yet I'm allergic to).**

**Anyway, after I say my thanks to people, I'll be off to decide what day the next **_**Stages of Life**_** chapter will come out and then to watch some **_**Red vs. Blue**_** on DVD.**

* * *

**Thank you to Geassvampire96, 4everhere, Junior-Einstein, xSilverTomoyox, LyxFall, Nina Saint, Hitoryan, Wolf Melody, kt 1z awesome, Pommyth, Tsumetai - san, midnight-heart, Ejaye16, SolemnWhishper, and Savvak for adding this to their story alerts list.**

**Thank you to RinFujisaki, Hitoryan, and rock on lala for adding me to their favorite authors list.**

**Thank you to 4everhere, RinFujisaki, Purplesnow14, xSilverTomoyox, ILooovesMatty, LyxFall, Starlight Lone-Wolf, Hitoryan, B-dawg201, kyohei11sunako, Omekawa Miku, 15SoulRider15, midnight-heart, rock on lala, Ejaye16, Savvak, and Nina Saint for adding this to their favorite stories list.**

**Thank you to RinFujisaki and Savvak for adding me to their author alerts list.**

**Lady Zayriah: There is nothing better than a cliffhanger!**

**Kisodota-The Freak Gamer: I honestly have no idea if someone could get away with this legally. I've never met a person who has. **

**RinFujosaki: Yeah, I started off watching the anime too so I know how it is when someone spoils it. **

**Katsumara: Leighton does sound more evil than Lyle, doesn't it? I actually have an uncle named Bob (short for Robert, of course). He's actually quite intimidating, with his Cubs hat and beer gut... **

**vreni: Ugh. Uniforms. I hated the ones we were forced to wear in gym. I don't think I could handle wearing an actual school uniform, I'm too into denim and my awesome faux leather boots. Leighton is a family friend.**

**4everhere: I'm glad you love this story so much. It really makes me happy to hear that other like it.**

**ambrie-chan: I hope I get to watch it too. Maybe I'll just borrow it from my cousin, he has it. (Lawl, just remembered that.) Leighton is a creep, I agree with you there. By the way, April Fools!**

**SoulForAnime: Leighton is probably the most insane person I know, other than me. Granny is awesome. She's just... there's really no other way to describe how cool of a character she is... I thought my prank was pretty funny.**

**Cuna999: They were just asking to be drinking buddies, I mean they are so similar in personality and all. I actually have a very good reason as to why Leighton wants the café, just thought it up a few days ago and I like it. Every Anthroplogy teacher is a little weird.**

**brunettebookworm14: Charles and Spirit had to be out of it, there was an open bar after all. Cliffhangers always add drama, something I love in stories but not in real life.**

**Midnight Ghost: Oh, there is more to him wanting the café than just Soul and Wes owning it. What that is, it was just recently decided.**

**xwannaflyx: 1.) I really no idea why it was video games, but it was. 2.) Maka called him "Oni-chan" because he's a small demon in her mind. -chan is typically used in a cutesy way, but it was used in here to sort of mock him. **

**LyxFall: I sometimes wonder myself what's going to happen next with this story. Lawl. If Leighton does do anything to Maka, I will personally make sure Soul takes his soul.**

**Starlight Lone-Wolf: Awe, thank you! I will make sure to keep updating.**

**Imouto-Chan13: I'm glad you enjoy this story. :)**

**Hitoryan: Well, take this story in small doses, not all at once. Addictions are very serious.**

**Undead Violet: She's a very likeable character. I think there's only one person who doesn't like her, my grandma. But that's because my grandma thinks I'm stereotyping Granny.**

**Wolf Melody: I'm glad you like this. I try my hardest to make this fic as entertaining and enthralling as possible, though lately I feel as if it isn't as good as it used to be but maybe that's just me. Soul reminded me of the Cheshire cat from **_**Alice's Adventures in Wonderland**_**. That's really how I came up with it.**

**dustbunnyhailey: He really deserves a swift kick in the arse, doesn't he?**

**Narusaku1357: This is, actually, something special about the café. What it is, well, that's for the next chapter.**

**kyohei11sunako: He looks good in suits.**

**midnight-heart: I'm glad you like this. I really didn't want to change any of the characters, so I try to keep them the way they are. **

**Shadowclaw78: O.O Was it really that funny? My trick is just studying the world around me and helping my cousins to understand the clichés of RPGs. And don't worry about the spelling mistakes, though I would start to worry about you seeing pink elephants. At least they weren't dancing and there wasn't a disco ball around. Dear lord, the night that happened to me was a crazy one.**

**Kashii Ai: Awe, I'm sorry. I'm glad to hear that you lived, though.**

**Vii: Had a 'Wow, I can't believe I fell for that' moment? Don't worry, it would have worked on me, too.**

**Sanzo4ever: April Fools...?**

**sugarpie-chan: I would never abandon this fic, ever. Nor could a I leave people hanging on a thread. Not in like a ga-bazillion years.**

**Detective Silvs: Ha ha, you got it.**

**TheNextAliceOwO: April Fools!**

**Ejaye16: Ha ha, you caught me.**

**Numbah six-sixtysix: April Fools!**

**soulxmakaxmonkeyxbearman: Hee hee, another person to catch me.**

**poolday: The Fools of April!**

**The Harlequin Mask: April Fools!**

**Ruse21: **_**CE**_** is like a brother...? O.o? April Fools? Why do I keep asking questions? Hee hee, I'm pretty darn devious.**

**B-dawg201: I shall say, "April Fools!" to you too, so... April Fools!**

**mynamebecait09: Yay! Another person caught me! You're majoring in Anthropology? That's awesome! I actually have a friend who's majoring in Anthro. too. I wish she wouldn't give up on art, though. She's really good.**

**Lexi-Rwan: It was good, wasn't it?**

**Kiku18: April Fools!**

**Congratulations to Ejaye16 for being the one hundredth person to add this to your favorite stories and to your story alerts. You get... this honorable mention! :D **


	16. Seven, Eight, Lay Them Straight

**Hey, guys. My gosh, it has been long. Between vacations, signing up for school, fixing my mp3 player, and GEETING A NEW LAPTOP (well, netbook), I've been busy. It doesn't help that I went to Arkansas and North Carolina and I'm behind with **_**Out of the Blue**_** and **_**Stages of Life.**_** Hopefully I can get more done now that Eros (my netbook) is up and running. But we'll see.**

**I feel so bad because I keep breaking my promises to you guys and all of you are so loyal! (sobs) I love you guys! **

**Anyway, I have five classes this semester, one's an online course. So my schedule will be more hectic (why do I do these things to myself?).**

**So, this chapter isn't edited, as I will eventually get back to editing at some point. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own **_**Soul Eater**_** or any of the characters. They all belong to Atsushi Okubo, who is signed under Square Enix in Japan and Yen Press in North America. The anime is directed by Takuya Igarashi, and produced by Bones, Aniplex, Dentsu, Media factory, and TV Tokyo.**

**Claimer: I do own Café Evans, Maggie, Charles, Viola, Norma, Esther, and anyone else that you do not recognize.**

* * *

**CAFÉ EVANS**

**by infidelityONcrank**

**Chapter 14**

_**Seven, Eight, Lay Them Straight**_

I shuffled behind Esther through the ventilation system, which were surprisingly much larger than what one normally have seen in movies and TV shows. Although, the size of these vents might be due to the vastness of the house… mansion… place.

Black Star lead us through the winding labyrinth, as though he knew the way. I was surprised to see him do such a feat.

"Say, Esther, why was everyone in the closet?" I asked the youngest Evans.

She looked back at me.

"Why do you want to know?" she asked lightly, as if it was something she did every once and a while.

"Uh, because?"

"Well, I saw the guest list last month and I saw that Leighton had been invited, and I knew about Soul and Wes's problem with him. So, I started plotting, with the help of Mama, of course."

"Wait… what?"

"Then I got Miss. Nakatsukasa's cell phone number and I got her help. Kidnapping everyone was easy after that. I found out their weaknesses and I used each one against them. Black Star was the easiest." She waked him on the head. "You should be disgusted with yourself. Really, nudity magazines."

I choked on my saliva. That was something that I did _not_ need to know.

"Your brothers bought them for me." I head him mutter.

That was something _else_ I did not need to know.

"Just… stop talking." I pleaded them.

"Hey, shorty, where's Tsubaki?" he asked, ignoring me.

"She's back at the café." Esther chirped. "By the way, she says 'hi' and 'have fun.'"

"I can't believe she helped you to plan this." I sighed. "She never seemed… devious enough."

"Trust me," Black Star said, quickly checking around a corner, "you don't know how devious she can be."

"Was that a perverted statement? I think that that was a perverted statement!"

**

* * *

**

The cover to the ventilation system that opened up into the kitchen was hidden away by some pots and pans. These obstacles, of course, were easily removed by Black Star. I won't admit it out loud, but his strength was useful. I doubt that Soul could have moved them on his own.

We startled the few people in the kitchen. They gawked at us.

"Miss. Esther, Miss. Maka, Master Black Star, how…? Why…? What…?" one of the chefs struggled.

"Use this to escape." Esther instructed, handing him a piece of paper and a pencil. "Mark your turns."

The twelve of them dashed into the place we had just left. In seconds they were out of sight and mind.

We had other things to focus on, like getting the others in. Leighton's men were guarding all the doors, inside and out; they needed to be drawn away. Plus, there was no way to get over there without being seen. All of the guests were huddled in one corner.

It was some luck of ours that he hadn't bothered to place and guards by the kitchen. I guess that he thought that there was no escape for the workers.

I could spot my father, Wes, and Maggie, bound and gagged off to the side of the guests. My only deduction was that they had tried to rebel and lost. We could have used their help.

"Okay, we need a plan." Esther whispered.

"I distract, you two open the doors." Black Star said just as quietly. "After that, free those three over there and get everyone else out of here as fast as you can."

It sounded decent enough.

Esther and I nodded. We slunk back from out peeking vantage point of the swinging doors. The three of us looked about for any kind of makeshift weapons we could use. Esther picked up a frying pan, Black Star made a pretty lethal looking… something out of knives and hand towels, and I found a broom.

"Good luck." Black Star told us quietly before he disappeared out of the door without it so much as moving more than an inch.

When he first told me when we first met that he was a ninja, I didn't believe him. Now that I was seeing his skills at work, I started to believe not only that statement, but all of them, ludicrous or not.

Esther and I heard him bellow something, not doubt startling everyone out there, we dashed out to the doors. Luckily, the guards were too busy with Black Star to even notice the pair of us.

One door was easily opened. Kid was waiting patiently on the other end. The second door was a bit more difficult but it swung open just the same. I felt sorry for the two unconscious men that Patti was playing with. Black ink from markers, that she mysteriously pulled out of who knows where, drew rather unusual shapes on their faces.

The last door was the hardest, mostly due to its weight. The center door would, of course, be the heaviest. Soul was tapping his foot impatiently on the other end.

"Finally," he said before dashing off to help Black Star.

Esther was already untying Wes and Maggie. I easily undid my father's bonds.

"Help everyone else get out." I told him.

"But what about you?" he asked in his way that he did when he was worried.

"I'll be fine."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

He patted my shoulder fondly, instantly taking over the crowd and instructing them with what to do. Wes and Maggie did what they could with them, directing others in helping the older crowd to help them move faster.

I picked up the broom and looked at Esther. She had already knocked out one of the guards.

Praying that I remembered what I learned in color guard while I was in high school, I attacked one of the guards. He whirled around to face me. When he saw me and smirked.

I gripped the wooden pole tighter, knuckles white. I swung again. He deftly took the blows, as if they were nothing. At the fifth or sixth time I went to strike him, he grabbed the broom and jolted it out of my hands.

I stumbled backwards and tripped over my skirts, landing on my backside. With a small groan, I looked up.

The guard made sure I was watching as he broke the broom, snapping it in half. He threw both pieces on either side of me. I winced when I heard them clatter on the tiled floor.

"What's wrong, little girl?" he chuckled. "Scared?"

"Hardly." I spat.

He frowned. Okay, so my answer wasn't exactly the smartest and it was very dumb and cliché, but I wasn't really scared. He wouldn't kill me… I hope.

He reached down and gathered both my wrists into one of his meaty hands. I was hoisted easily off the ground, my feet dangling. He held me away from his body, so if I tried to kick I would completely miss.

I did anyway, struggling and missing. I growled orders at him. I promised to kill him. Nothing worked.

As much as I wanted to, I didn't despair. That is, until we reached Leighton.

"Well, well, if it isn't Miss Albarn." he chortled. "What _have_ you been up to? No good, from what I see. Such a pity, really, you being dragged down by that Evans boy. You could have any young man eating out of the palm of your tiny hands. Instead, you chose Soul. He's a misfit, not worthy of the affection of the daughter of Death City's greatest dancer."

"What do you know about my mother?"

"Kami? Why, she was the pick of the pack! Every man wanted her. She was the most desirable being one had ever seen. You being her daughter ups your worth."

I struggled in the hands of the brute holding me one final time.

One of his clawed hands reached out to me. I tired to pull away, but to no avail. He pressed one finger onto a sensitive spot on the back of my neck and everything went black.

I hate pressure points…

* * *

I awoke to the sound of Leighton barking orders at his men. A thunk of the roof (roof?) had sounded the alarm and the sound of footsteps above was startling.

I was in a vehicle, from what I knew. Leighton's limo, more than likely.

"Ah, so you finally awake." the red-skinned being noted. "Just in time too, we're just entering Death City. Your Soul chased us all this way. He's right above us. Pity you won't be able to say farewell before he splats into one of the buildings or the road."

I went to charge at him, but I fell flat on my face. My hands were cuffed behind me. With a groan, I looked up at him.

The car screeched around a corner, sending me to smack into the door.

A guard hauled me up back into the seat across from Leighton. I glared at them both.

Gunshots rang out. I felt a scream rip through my throat but I don't know if it was heard over the noise.

Soul!

"Gag her." Leighton told the guard.

I felt a cloth wrap itself around my head, muffling any noise that came out of my mouth. I struggled just a bit to make it difficult, only to earn a smack to my head that made my ears ring and a tight knot that held the gag in place.

I tried to kick at the guard but I found that the skirts were getting in the way. The futile effort went ignored, as Soul managed to break the window, glass splintered and shattered inwards.

He landed easily in, glass crunching under his feet. He landed in a crouch, head tucked down. His silver hair was as wild as ever.

In a swift motion , he charged at Leighton. Guards that were on either side of the strange man, held Soul back, slamming him into the seat next to me.

A muffled cry escaped me at the suddenness. In seconds, Soul was cuffed and gagged like I was. They had somehow managed to loop one of his arms with mine before the handcuffs were on his wrists.

He struggled at first but found that the movement jolted me too much for his liking. Soul looked at me before glaring at the little red man.

"Now, Soul, is this the way you treat an old family friend?" Leighton chuckled. "I thought you would know better by now. I am not the villain in this story, and you are not the hero. You are not some white knight who charges in and saves the day, that's for fairy tales and make believe stories. You could have given me what I wanted in the first place and none of this would have happened.

"Then, of course, you wouldn't have met Miss. Albarn here. She's not a princess who needs some prince or a _hero_ to save her, you know. She can manage quite well on her own. But you are quite blind by this factor, aren't you? You know something about Miss. Albarn that she doesn't quite know about herself. You've seen what she is and what she'll become. Why not tell her what this whole thing is really about, hm?"

I frowned, my brow creased. What on _earth_ was he talking about? Soul saw something about me? What did he see?

"I could tell her for you, but that would spoil half of the fun, now wouldn't it?"

The limo stopped.

…This guy was _really_ good with his cues.

The guards pulled us out on the side that Soul was on, making me rip the skirts several times. I was really shown no mercy.

Soul and I clattered into the streets, me struggling in the heels I had been forced into. If I had known that this was what I would be doing, I would have worn different shoes. Although, it wasn't like Maggie would have let me…

We were yanked into the café, where a startled Tsubaki had been chatting with Chrona and Ragnorak. Immediately, the three leapt into action, only to be knocked back and bound like Soul and I.

Leighton lead us into the back room and opened a trapdoor that I have never noticed. _Nobody_ would have noticed it unless you were actually looking for it. A cramped set of stair wound downwards into a dark expanse.

I could hear nothing but the clunks of my heels on the metal stairs, along with everyone else's, our breathing, and the distant echo of dripping water. I strained my ears to hear anything else (police, firemen, the café's bell…). Unfortunately, there was nothing.

Leighton opened up a door, sending in a blinding light. For a moment or so, I was sightless. When I finally stopped seeing spots from the damage to me retina, then I saw what had been hidden from me.

* * *

**Dun, dun, dun! What is it? What did Maka see? Send in your guesses! …I don't feel like pulling a Spielburg in **_**Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull**_**. That was a very disappointing ending, I must see. I was all built up for something exciting, and then… yeah. I won't post any spoilers, as there **_**are**_** people who still haven't seen it. It's worth the watch, it really is, I just wish that the ending had been better. It was so… off the wall…**

**This wasn't as long as I had originally wanted, and I seriously tried to make it longer but I just couldn't. I'm sorry that I failed at that, guys.**

**Well, I kind of have a surprise for you guys. My cousin, JabbyChan, and I are working on a remake of **_**Little Red Riding Hood**_**. She's writing, and I'm editing mostly. When it is posted, I'll post the link for it (as it'll be on FictionPress by the sounds of it). ;-* Look forward to it, y'all!**

**

* * *

**

There was a lot for this story. One-hundred and fifty-nine messages filled up

_**CE**_**'s folder in my yahoo account. Dear Lord… I'm never staying away that long again…**

**Thank you to MasteroftheIceBlade, NoirFoxy, Breezikins, Janesmith44poprocks, SavvaKefa, soulxmakaxmonkeyxbearman, Avalynn Zephyr, VioletCrush, CameronEmma, Kouji Miruku, Frost-EVA-04, Mrzabstruse04, Miss Storyholic, NewBlackCat, Pop Rockz, Radio Hysteria-x, MichelleLovesU, tvxqmusic, Five Centimeters, Lysidia, xXreikanzakiXx, Crystal F. Flowright, Kura and Hana, ami90, alchemichelper101, kataiookami, Calicoflower8, RandomDancing123, YAYfanfics101, pinkshorts, ilovesouleater, EndlessFlame911, gabbysaluta, neptune sea, Lady Faye Rosethorn, Teachen, strawberry delights, jAYjUKUKiTTY, MyNumberXIII, PashaPup, Snowy Cherry-san, pjsandwitch, Winterbelle, Supreme cookieeater NANCY, left arm, StarSapphireWolf, KyonKichisKittyKat, and Tenegai for adding this story to their favorite stories list.**

**Thank you to Breezikins, grapecrush1414, SavvaKefa, lizy7147, Frost-EVA-04, goon gala-cowabunga, kitty-ears11, Miss Storyholic, tinycocochan, Lycoris Calantha, Shini-Lexy, Adelaide Miller, SisterFreaks, xXreikanzakiXx, thearistocrat, Usagi323, Kura and Hana, Dark-Sky-of-Avalon, XxXTwilight-SinXxX, kataiookami, MyNumberXIII, Winterbelle, arisu rin, Meony, Cerridwen-Maiden, EndlessFlame911, and Lithium Suicide for adding this to their story alerts list.**

**Thank you to Breezikins, kyohei11sunako, soulxmakaxmonkeyxbearman, Shadowclaw78, Frost-EVA-04, kyoko-tan, Lysidia, Lady Faye Rosethorn, pjsandwitch, RandomDancing123, pinkshorts, gabbysaluta, and neptune sea for addinf me to their favorite authors list.**

**Thank you to kyohei11sunako, SavvaKefa, Mizabstruse30, Lysidia, kataiookami, and pjsandwitch for adding me to their author alerts list.**

**RebelAngel191210: Why would I ever abandon you guys?**

**SoulForAnime: O.o Your poor brother. You didn't drop him on his head when he was a baby, did you?**

**Savvak: Why thank you. I thought it was ingenious.**

**Ejaye16: I really don't have much to offer. I'm a horrible artist and I'm poor. I could have offered you an mp3 of me singing but I don't have the equipment to do that. XD I think everyone wishes that they were as smart as Esther.**

**brunettebookworm14: XD Hee hee hee… half-dead bodies…**

**Dusana Varptita: Who did you dress as at ACen? I was dressed as Hinata, a steampunk girl, and (originally I made a t-shirt specifically for ACen) a Lolita girl.**

**sugarpie-chan: I seriously have to see Ponyo…**

**Breezikins: I'm really glad that you're enjoying this. :D Don't get too excited now, we don't want you to spontaneously combust.**

**poolday: Yeah, I'm trying to make these chapters longer but it's not really working. XD The next chapter should be though.**

**Ryo Hoshi: 1. Yeah, the AN was long. I try to make them brief but sometimes it just doesn't work. :P  
2. I'm not sure if they'll continue with DP where they left off. There was nothing on it at Hartman's website but I'll keep checking.  
3. I don't mind so much anymore if people review or not. If they like it, they like it; if not, they'll say so.I'll have to fix that choppiness when I edit.**

**TheNextAliceOwO: You had a "headdesk" moment? Lol. Several others did the same.**

**xwannaflyx: Well, if they hunted me down, then the story wouldn't be continued… Half-dead bodies are so interesting, indeed. (pokes one with a stick)**

**kyohei11sunako: ¬_¬ …You're giving me ideas for my epilogue… **

**Kisdota-The Freak Gamer: I had to think of a really good reason as to why they were in the closet, lol. The best I could come up with was Esther kidnapping them.**

**Katsumara: 'Kay, I don't mind nicknames. Sorry, that I made you and everyone else wait so long.**

**karasu~pyon: Well, the next chappie is here! It was a mean prank but at least I it was just a prank.**

**Midnight Ghost: She was at the café. Someone had to run it while everyone else was away.**

**mynamebecait09: Yeah, a job as an anthropologist is kind of difficult, but if you want to continue with it you could ask around. Oceanography is pretty interesting. I don't know anyone majoring in it, but then again I don't live near an ocean… just Great Lakes. I'll be sad for a little while but I do know a lot of artists. She was just the best out of all of them.**

**The Harlequin Mask: I could never abandon this. I've grown to love it and think of it as a part of me.**

**4everhere: Black Star is just special. I'm sure your cousin is, too. Lol.**

**soulxmakaxmonkeyxbearman: Yay! Music! Politics just kind of gets boring after a while. I never was really fond of it when I was young. Well the reason as to **_**why**_** Leighton was holding them hostage will be revealed soon enough!**

**soul-eater-evans-is-awesome: XD Lol.**

**Imouto-Chan13: Yes, Esther is very smart and yes Black Star has his moments… -.-; I just wish I didn't make him seem like a total idiot.**

**dustbunnyhailey: Esther sure thinks ahead for these things. I wonder what would have happened to them if Leighton hadn't shown up and held everyone hostage. They probably would have been forgotten about…**

**six-sixtysix: A lot of people fell for it, don't worry about it. :D …You over evaluated the unsymmetrical/asymmetrical thing… Asymmetrical is grammatically correct… I think. Black Star is Black Star… he's kind of always been an annoying pervert in my mind (but he did get better in the manga).**

**Cuna999: Yeah… I'm not really sane, so them being gagged and bound in a dark closet TOTALLY makes sense.**

**Shadowclaw78: Hee hee hee… (is feeling devious)**

**Kiku18: Yes, Esther is quite strange. If I ever do make a sequel to this, I think I shall make her a psychopath.**

**Frost-EVA-04: I hurried as quickly as I could. I think I was a tortoise in a past life. I do like to take my time to finish the race…**

**Lysidia: I like AUs that are different from the usual AU you find around here. So many reviews from you! XD Golly gosh, I took my time to read them all…**

**xXreikanzakiXx: Yay! (huggles) I'm glad you love it. : ) The end is nigh… er, yeah…**

**thearistocrat: Tah-dah! The next chapter. I'm magical. No, not really. If I was, I would have finished up the ending by now. XD**

**Usagi323: I'm a hurrying, I'm a hurrying… (post) Yay…!**

**Pop Rockz: Updated! Here you go!**

**Kura and Hana: Both of their placings were in the chapter above, but (because I'm, like, not cool and stuff) Wes was a part of the hostage grouping and Tsubaki was at the café. :D**

**alchemichelper101: CAPS LETTER!11!1! I updated.**

**rawr: Awe, don't be sad. I updated, I updated!**

**Blakk: I updated! And, yes, this fic **_**is**_** awesome.**

**eli: Updated!**

**Snowy Cherry-san: If you like this, check out the other stories in my favorite stories list (this actually goes for everybody, too)… and my other fics because, you know, I like when people read my stuff and all.**

**Supreme cookieeater NANCY: Awe, don't hurt your head too much. Poor Soul, ha ha.**

**LittleMissReaper112: Whoo! Giddy! I love that word.**

**AnimeCookie93: I'm glad that you're enjoying it thus far. It can be a bit of a challenge at times to keep and OC's voice their own while trying to tell an AU. I really do try hard at it.**

**Cerridwen-Maiden: …Now I really, **_**really**_** have to see Ponyo. (grumbles something about stupid movie rental places closing down)**

**neptune sea: Well, it's tomorrow… sort of… Tomorrow never really comes, though, as they say… dot dot dot…**


	17. Nine, Ten, Let's Do It Again

**Happy holidays, everyone!**

**This'll be the whitest Christmas we've had in thirteen years. I think we've had an Easter whiter than it's been these past few years. Yay, for snow! Sort of… I can't see the road. Ah, well, I don't have to drive tonight.**

**It's been a while (sorry about that), but I have a few chapters for some things done so expect updates! :D **

**You can see, in this chapter, what did and what didn't lay right with me. I'll try to fix it when I finish my edits for this story.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own **_**Soul Eater**_** or any of the characters. They all belong to Atsushi Okubo, who is signed under Square Enix in Japan and Yen Press in North America. The anime is directed by Takuya Igarashi, and produced by Bones, Aniplex, Dentsu, Media factory, and TV Tokyo.**

**Claimer: I do own Café Evans, Maggie, Charles, Viola, Norma, Esther, and anyone else that you do not recognize.**

* * *

**CAFÉ EVANS**

**by infidelityONcrank**

**Chapter 15**

_**Nine, Ten, Let's Do It Again**_

I gaped, feeling very disappointed. There was an empty room behind the door. Not a speck of dust littered the ground. A musk permeated my nostrils and caused me to sneeze, making me rub my nose.

"That's it?" I asked, quickly regretting it.

Leighton smirked, making me feel uncomfortable. The sinister gleam in his eyes was more than threatening.

"Don't you dare, you bastard." Soul barked, startling me. He struggled against the men holding him back.

"Wha—" I started to ask.

I was pushed into the room, tripping on the hem of my skirt. The door scraped shut behind me with a satisfied clang. I cursed.

This was bad. This was really, really, _really_ bad.

There were several things I could have done, but I chose the dumbest: slamming my body into the metal door, trying to push it open. I bellowed and wailed at the top of my lungs, pleading to get out. Each hit hurt more than anything. In the end, I only ended up dislocating my shoulder and bruising one side of my body. I was pretty sure that I may have had a concussion from the few times my head hit the solid surface.

With a defeated sob, I slid down the wall to the floor. My legs splayed out in front of me as I treated my arm. It stung and prickled. I wouldn't doubt if there was nerve damage.

I cradled the arm, hoping to ease the pain and keep from jostling it as I hiccupped. It was really all that I could do as I waited for time to pass.

I need to calm down and logically think things over, not physically attacking anything that was able to move. (And there wasn't much that could in this enclosed space.)

Forcing myself to breath like Tsubaki taught me, when I had wanted to learn meditation, I slowly felt myself relaxing. It worked… sort of. I nodded off for a few seconds or perhaps minutes.

It was in those seconds or minutes that I had a strange dream. Mama was in it. I hadn't dreamed about her in many years.

We were out in the country, visiting a friend of hers, like we used to. But, unlike any dream I'd ever had of her, I was myself not my tiny child-self. She had said something, something that had been muffled and incomprehensible. There was no urgency or warning in her face but I could almost hear it humming in the air.

There was something in that urgency that woke me up. I turned my ear towards the door, pressing it against the cold metal. I could faintly hear the sounds of a struggle outside.

"Hey!" I cried, slamming the palms of my hands on the door. "In here!"

It didn't have long to wait. Tsubaki rushed to me and began to fuss.

"Your shoulder!" she gasped, gently touching it. I hissed.

"Is she alright?" someone asked.

It was then that I noticed the policemen gathered in the small area. Leighton and his goons were being cuffed and brought upstairs. I watched as they trailed upwards like ants.

"She'll need an ambulance." Tsubaki told the man. She told me, "Craddle your arm, it will ease the pain and slow the swelling. Now, come on, let's get some ice on it before the paramedics get here."

She led me upstairs and sat me down at one of the tables. She brought me a bag of frozen peas.

I held it in place as she talked.

"Leighton and his… minions might be charged with kidnapping and breaking and entering. At least, that's what I heard the police say. Both are felonies. Not much but it's all that they can really do at this point. How's that shoulder? Is it starting to feel better?"

"How long was I in there?" I asked, making note of the color of the sky outside.

"Not long. Maybe five, six minutes tops. I'm surprised you haven't asked about Soul. He was taken away by an early ambulance. He was in pretty bad shape. Most of it was his own fault, unfortunately. He threw himself at that door, trying to get you out. You did the same, I suppose?"

"Yes."

The paramedics arrived then and whisked me away. I remember being drugged and then darkness.

I woke to my body shaking with aftershock in a white room. Several heart monitors beeped steadily, one was slightly erratic. I think it was mine.

The nurse attending to the few people in the room helped me into a wheelchair and carted me away. Another nurse, who introduced herself as Carrie, helped me to set my arm into a sling.

"It will be sore for a few days but nothing a little rest can't help." she said, tucking me into the uncomfortable bed. "It's almost lunch time right now. Would you like something to eat? I could bring you a menu."

She went away somewhere and handed me a sheet of paper.

"Lucky you, you can eat whatever you'd like. The food here's actually pretty good, unlike most hospitals. So, see anything you like?"

"Italian Ice." I said rather shyly. I hadn't had one since Mama and Papa divorced.

She nodded and brought back the little plastic cup and a wooden spoon.

"Enjoy! If you need anything, just press the call button."

"Uh, before you leave." I said. "There was a young man about my age brought in. He has silver-ish, white hair."

"Oh, you must be his girlfriend!"

"Gi-gi-girlfriend?"

"Just joshing there, darling. He is here. In fact he's right across the hall. He's rather cute. How do you know him?"

"We're coworkers." For some reason, that sentence left a bad taste in my mouth.

"Ah. Well, I'm not supposed to encourage you to visit other patients, but I am supposed to encourage exercise. So if you were to, say, take a walk or something, I couldn't stop you." She winked and practically skipped out of the room.

I waited several minutes before I peeled off the tape that held the heart monitor sensor in place and turned the machine off. I grabbed the wheeling stand that held the Novocain in the plastic bag, attached to me via tube and needle, and my Italian Ice. Quietly, I tiptoed to the door and peeked out. In one direction, I could see the nurses' station and in the other, quite a way bit down, was a wall with some sort of picture I couldn't make out due to the glare of the lights on the glass.

From where I was, I could see the names of the people across the hall, Soul's included.

One more look to make sure that the way was clear, I walked nonchalantly to his door and opened it.

He looked up with tired eyes, but he smiled that Cheshire smile that I liked.

"Hey." he croaked.

"Hey." I replied jut as softly. I shuffled over and sat on a chair near the bed. "Italian Ice?"

"No, thanks."

"Why? Afraid you'll get cooties?"

"Yes, Maka, I'm afraid of getting cooties." he replied, trying to be serious but his smile slipping through every word.

We ended up laughing. And coughing because we were laughing so hard.

Cooties. Really? No one believes in them anymore.

"Soul?" I asked after we'd calmed down.

"Yeah?"

"Why didn't you want me going into that room?"

"It's… It's complicated."

'How's it complicated?"

"It… It just is, alright?"

"Soul…"

"Maka, leave it at that."

"Please, tell me why it's complicated."

"I can't."

"Why not?"

"You're acting like a child. I can't take you seriously." he snapped. "Sorry. I just can't."

After a moment, I said, "While I was in there, I dreamed of Mama. We were far away."

He sighed.

"Soul, what is it?"

"Nothing."

"Liar."

He hesitated for a moment.

"Maka, look," he said. "That room… It's weird. Everyone who goes into it gets this dream, something that _will_ happen in a year. Neither Wes nor I knew about it when we first bought the café. I was the on to learn about it.

"I'd fallen asleep during inventory one day and had this dream about passing this girl on the street. And then, a few weeks later, I did. I passed her several times and I always dreamed about it before it happened.

"Then, I dreamed that she worked at our café. The following day, there she was, gawking next to Wes like an idiot."

"Who was she? Do I know her? Is it Tsubaki?"

"No, genius. She's you."

"Oh… Oh! Wait, you had dreams about me? That's kind of…"

"Creepy?"

"I was going to say stalker-ish, but creepy fits, too." I half-laughed. "So, my dream. Does this mean, I'll get to see Mama?"

"Yeah."

"You don't sound to happy about it."

"I'm happy for you, not the repercussions."

"Repercussions?"

"You going into that room means that you'll leave. Forever. I saw it."

My mouth formed an 'O.' This was not good.

**

* * *

****It had been over a year since that day and the events that followed.**

Leighton and his followers had a trial. They were all found guilty of their crimes, but they only had to pay a bail. Soul and Wes were able to get the judge to agree to have a restraining order placed on him, to keep him away from them, myself, and the rest of the café staff.

Some how, Black Star asked Tsubaki to marry him. They'd eloped to Vegas, dragging Soul and I to be witnesses to their wedding. Their actions never surprised anyone who knew them. The few guys who hit on Tsubaki however… Let's just say they wince every time she passes them.

Wes and Maggie called off their engagement. This surprised everyone, except Soul, who seemed to know the deeper reasons other than the one we were given. Just wanted to remain friends, my foot.

Soul had managed to gather the courage to ask me out. We went out several times but neither of us could get over the overbearing feeling that I would be leaving him to be with Mama. It was what was keeping us from going any farther.

So, when I came into work that day, it wasn't strange for Soul to be downstairs, greeting me with a friendly smile, ignoring Kid's shouts for him to get his feet off the table (people eat there, you know).

"Tell your boyfriend to remove his feet from the table top." Kid pleaded me.

"Soul." I called, slightly warning him.

He did, grumbling something that I didn't hear.

"We have a shipment of napkins coming in tonight." Kid said, clocking out and grabbing his coat.

"Okay. Hey, does my hair look alright?" I asked, tightening one hair band.

"No, it's not even. Hold on." He lightly pushed one of the rubber bands down and studied my head for a quick second. "There, you're no symmetrical."

"Thanks."

"Now, no making out with Soul this evening. Chrona hasn't left me alone about walking in on you two in the broom closet."

I flushed at that memory. Poor Chrona. Also, Poor Kid; he was acting as Chrona's therapist.

I bid him farewell before going to bother Soul. He was signing something (the napkin order?) and talking to a plump delivery man, who set down several brown boxes. They nodded their goodbyes.

Soul turned his attention to me.

"You look like a twelve year old." he told me, flicking on of my ponytails around in a circle. I swatted at his hand. "It's true."

"Oh, go put the boxes away." I snorted.

He grumbled something and did as I told him.

The bell above the door chimed.

"Hello, welcome to Café Evans!" I greeted. "How many?"

"Just one." said the woman, taking off her hat that protected her hair from the snow.

I grabbed a menu and turned to see her for the first time. The laminated plastic paper and leather bound pamphlet fell to the ground with a clatter as I gasped.

"Mama?"

**Finito.**

* * *

**My milkshake brings all the boys to the yard, and they're like it's better than yours…**

**Stupid **_**Hellcats**_** commercial. Now that song's stuck in my head. I remember when that came out. I was in middle school… Okay, bad memories. I promised myself to never go there again.**

**Anyway, as I was typing this I was listening to Katy Perry's "E.T." (tilts head) I've been addicted to the song ever since I heard it.**

**Well, this is finished and complete. Maybe I'll start gathering ideas for a sequel. Maybe I'll leave it at where this ended. Maybe someone could write the sequel because I'm too lazy. Naw, just kidding. I'll work on it. It just might take some time to post up.**

**I like this ending. I originally was going to end it with them playing **_**Guitar Hero **_**or watching **_**Finding Nemo**_** or something. This one is all **_**The Sopranos**_** and shiz.**

**The hospital scene was basically what I remember from my surgery. Including the Italian Ice thing. They included a wooden spoon and everything. They stopped making the wooden spoons for several years and it wasn't until 2006 that they brought them back by popular demand. Because, really, what is eating Italian Ice without getting a splinter on your tongue?**

**Well, I'm going to go be emo because Netflix hasn't added **_**Merlin **_**seasons 2 and 3 yet before I have to leave for the annual Christmas party.**

* * *

**Thank you to Domo1383, ubyrai, LiahkonAS, Kagaminex, The Harlequin Mask, randomness is my name x, Akuma no Musuko, sapphirechamp, Violetlmitation, white-lily15, Shippysantgirl, Asabella, It-Ended-At-3, Brok3nAllStarz13, Sinisterly, Tha Weird One, XBadxSassX, Rikku0397, animeluvr2x2X2x2, Dark Waffle, Smiley0016, x Ezra x, Kawaii-Hime x3, sadisticL, CXPW, bigm444, BloodyDarkNaruto, zorosgirl2013, hectorg123, skye96, -SiSCA HiJMEi-, isecretlywrite, cizora, LadyEpic27, xxXGothEmoChickXxx, the tomato, Grey-The Ultimate Fan Girl, strawberrybutterfly, HopelessRomanticist, CrimsonStar10, BrokenBrambles, Regoli, Eternity Soul, Seddie star, Lilith Shiro, HiHellolWeird, blackskull1019, and oh candy pop for adding this story to their favorite stories list.**

**Thank you to neptune sea, Emmy31894, ubyrai, LiahkonAS, Kagaminex, randomness is my name x, Akuma no Musuko, Astaline Nightingale, white-lily15, stifledcreativity, Shippysantgirl, Asabella, Waterdog, Ultimate Mask, Domo1383, Tha Weird One, I-Eat-My-Vegetables, smrtangel, pendragon96, comptonja, Dark Waffle, AndInsanityEnsues, Smiley0016, heromaster3, x Ezra x, sadisticL, Kye-key cat, CXPW, zorogirl2013, hectorg123, skye96, -SiSCA HiJMEi-, heelo5, isecretlywrite, magnoliastar03, xxXGothEmoChickXxx, strawberrybutterfly, HoplessRomanticist, BrokenBrambles, WaterAngel-Alyssa, Regoli, Seddie star, MarkOfTheRaven, Roxie5901, and Lilith Shiro for adding this story to their story alerts list.**

**Thank you to randomness is my name x, skye96, strawberrybutterfly, and Lilith Shiro for adding me to their author alerts list.**

**Thank you to XBadxSassX, Dark Waffle, Skittleszchaos, Lilith Shiro, and HiHellolWeird for adding me to their favorite authors list.**

**Cerridwen-Maiden: Yes, cliffhangers are indeed evil ;D …That is an interesting fact….**

**Midnight Ghost: XD I fell off my bed laughing when I read what you said. I bruised my hip. (pokes bruise) Ow… (pokes bruise again)**

**Cuna999: …Creepy stalker dude…? lol. The reason I reply to every comment is because people took the time to read and write a review. I should take some time out of my life to reply back. That and I can have strange conversations over the course of several chapters with people.**

**SoulForAnime: Just a little stupid… By the way, you weren't being annoying. Annoying is my little sister. Although, technically, she's taller than me and weighs more than me (but that's because she's got muscles…). Huh, big siblings are weird in our own minds…**

**RandomDancing123: lol. …Here's a pair of muffins for you and your sister , and a lengthy paper explaining the importance of fanfiction in pop culture for your mom.**

**adelaidemiller: …You might have to go back an reread everything again. XD**

**neptune sea: Ninjas… (flashback to high school and creeping about the catwalks in the auditorium) Ninjas… Ah, Maka believing that Santa Clause conquered the Martians… It's possible. I mean, Black Star is a lot smarter than any of us give him credit for…**

**Yukiomaru: Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair! Er, wait a second… I'm not a prince…**

**mynamebecait09: That's actually a pretty good guess. It was… half right, in a way.**

**The Harlequin Mask: And behind door number two… An empty room! Er… That's slightly disappointing.**

**Kisdota-The Freak Gamer: Soul and Maka in bondage… Ah! Bad images! Bad images! **

**Akuma no Musuka: …Stalker shrine… I'm not sure if that was batter than an empty room or what.**

**midnight-heart: No one can ever expect anything with me, ha ha! …Or maybe I'm getting so predictable because I'm unpredictable…**

**Poprockz: Eek! Evil muffins! They're horrible delicious! …Exclamation point!**

**Katsumura: Ah, thank you, my dear Katsy. I think I'll call you that from now on, okay?**

**YAYfanfics101: Pretty good guess!**

**stifledcreativity: I hope this last chapter wasn't too disappointing for this, and I quote you, "wonderfully well-written story."**

**xwannaflyx: …I wouldn't like being tied to a chair and forced to type. I'd bash my head in on the keyboard and I don't think a lot of people would be happy about that.**

**Starlight Lone-Wolf: You are welcome. :D**

**Shippysantgirl: Hope your friends liked them.**

**asabella: You don't really hate me, you hate my cliffies. :D**

**thearistocrat: I don't think you would have guessed what was in the room, no matter how fresh it was in your mind. Unless you guessed Kami (Maka's mama). You would have been half right.**

**Wolf Melody: …I am not a female dog! At least, I don't think so…**

**Ultimate Mask: Welcome to the **_**CAFÉ EVANS**_** train. We serve muffins and cupcakes daily and we're now featuring our homemade hot cocoa. O.o I'm going to blame today's craziness on Christmas.**

**Mynameiseliza: I love that guy at the end of the episode who asks questions. I mean, now he's really corny but he was awesome back in the day…**

**XBadxSassX: O.O Well… now you know…? Here's a muffin.**

**brunettebookworm14: Patience is a virtue, grasshopper. O.o**

**animeluvr2x2X2x2: Yeah, the review thingy is temperamental sometimes. By the way, I am indeed a girl. You were right the first time.**

**Dark Waffle: Ah, thank you, sweetie. And please don't cry.**

**Numbuh six-sixtysix: …What's it like on Venus? (Sorry, it's the wittiest thing I could think of. XD)**

**Smiley0016: I do try to update as much as I can and when I can. My holiday gifts to all my readers this year is a few updates. ****J You were close with your guess. I love Esther too. She so… Esther-y. Really there is no way to describe her.**

**skye96: Please don't die. I'll poke your body with a stick if you do. It was a good prank. But I could honestly never abandon **_**CE**_**. It's my child and I love him… her… it?**

**Cholexo: For you, and my other readers, I updated. :D**

**A reviewer: I am a lying liar who tells lies and lies to liars! Wahhhhhhhhhhhh!**

**Yo-Yo-Moe: I love to say, "Just joshing" to people. The weird looks I get. It's hilarious.**

**strawberrybutterfly: I'm glad you love this story.**

**CrimsonStar10: You, my dear reader, are so freaking epic because you read this and you reviewed.**

**Lynne: :D I'm glad you like this story.**

**MarkOfTheRaven: I'm glad you stumbled upon it. I stumble upon things all the time. Stories, TV shows, air…**


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